Numbers 13
1 And there, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
And the Lord said to Moses,
2 “Send men, who may examine the land of Canaan, which I will give to the sons of Israel, one from the rulers of each tribe.”
Send men to get knowledge about the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from every tribe of their fathers you are to send a man, every one a chief among them.
3 Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending, from the desert of Paran, leading men, whose names are these:
And Moses sent them from the waste land of Paran as the Lord gave orders, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
4 from the tribe of Ruben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;
And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur.
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;
Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;
Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea the son of Nun;
Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun.
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;
Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.
10 from the tribe of Zebulon, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;
Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.
11 from the tribe of Joseph, of the scepter of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;
Of the tribe of Joseph, that is of the family of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;
Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;
Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;
Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.
15 from the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.
Of the tribe of Gad, Gevel, the son of Machi.
16 These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to examine the land. And he called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua.
These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to get knowledge about the land. And Moses gave to Hoshea, the son of Nun, the name of Joshua.
17 And so, Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan, and he said to them: “Ascend by the south side. And when you arrive at the mountains,
So Moses sent them to have a look at the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up into the South and into the hill-country;
18 consider the land, as to what kind it may be, and the people, who are its inhabitants, whether they may be strong or weak, whether they may be few in number or many,
And see what the land is like; and if the people living in it are strong or feeble, small or great in number;
19 and the land itself, whether it is good or bad, what kind of cities, walled or without walls,
And what sort of land they are living in, if it is good or bad; and what their living-places are, tent-circles or walled towns;
20 the soil, rich or barren, forested or without trees. Be strong, and bring us some of the fruits of the land.” Now it was the time when the first ripe grapes were ready to be eaten.
And if the land is fertile or poor, and if there is wood in it or not. And be of good heart, and come back with some of the produce of the land. Now it was the time when the first grapes were ready.
21 And when they had ascended, they explored the land from the desert of Sin, all the way to Rehob, as one enters into Hamath.
So they went up and got a view of the land, from the waste land of Zin to Rehob, on the way to Hamath.
22 And they ascended by the south side. And they arrived at Hebron, where there were Ahiman and Shishai and Talmai, the sons of Anak. For Hebron was founded seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt.
They went up into the South and came to Hebron; and Ahiman and Sheshai and Talmai, the children of Anak, were living there. (Now the building of Hebron took place seven years before that of Zoan in Egypt.)
23 And continuing on as far as the Torrent of the Cluster of Grapes, they cut off a vine with its grapes, which two men carried on a board. Likewise, they took from the pomegranates and the figs of that place,
And they came to the valley of Eshcol, and cutting down a vine-branch with its grapes, two of them took it on a rod between them; and they took some pomegranates and figs.
24 which was called Nehel Eshcol, that is, the Torrent of the Cluster of Grapes, because the sons of Israel had carried a cluster of grapes from there.
That place was named the valley of Eshcol because of the grapes which the children of Israel took from there.
25 And those exploring the land returned after forty days, having circulated through the entire region.
At the end of forty days they came back from viewing the land.
26 And they went to Moses and Aaron, and to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel in the desert of Paran, which is in Kadesh. And speaking to them, and to the entire multitude, they showed them the fruits of the land.
And they came back to Moses and Aaron and all the children of Israel, to Kadesh in the waste land of Paran; and gave an account to them and to all the people and let them see the produce of the land.
27 And they explained, saying: “We went into the land, to which you sent us, which, it is true, flows with milk and honey, as one can know by these fruits.
And they said, We came to the land where you sent us, and truly it is flowing with milk and honey: and here is some of the produce of it.
28 But it has very strong occupants, and the cities are great and also walled. We saw the race of Anak there.
But the people living in the land are strong, and the towns are walled and very great; further, we saw the children of Anak there.
29 Amalek lives in the south. The Hethite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the mountains. And truly, the Canaanite stays near the sea and around the streams of the Jordan.”
And the Amalekites are in the South; and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill-country; and the Canaanites by the sea and by the side of Jordan.
30 During these events, Caleb, to restrain the murmuring of the people who rose up against Moses, said, “Let us ascend and possess the land, for we will be able to obtain it.”
Then Caleb made signs to the people to keep quiet, and said to Moses, Let us go up straight away and take this land; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 Yet truly, the others, who had been with him, were saying, “By no means are we able to ascend to this people, because they are stronger than we are.”
But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.
32 And before the sons of Israel they disparaged the land, which they had inspected, saying: “The land, which we viewed, devours its inhabitants. The people, upon whom we gazed, were of lofty stature.
And they gave the children of Israel a bad account of the land they had been to see, saying, This land through which we went is a land causing destruction to those living in it; and all the people we saw there are men of more than common size.
33 There, we saw some monsters among the sons of Anak, of the race of giants; by comparison with them, we seemed like locusts.”
There we saw those great men, the sons of Anak, offspring of the Nephilim: and we seemed to ourselves no more than insects, and so we seemed to them.
