Numbers 13
1 And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
And the LORD said to Moses,
2 Send men to view the land of Chanaan, which I will give to the children of Israel, one of every tribe, of the rulers.
“Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.”
3 Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending from the desert of Pharan, principal men, whose names are these:
So at the consent of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites,
4 Of the tribe of Ruben, Sammua the son of Zechur.
and these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;
5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Saphat the son of Hurl.
from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of Jephone.
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Osee the son of Nun.
from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Phalti the son of Raphu.
from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 Of the tribe of Zabulon, Geddiel the son of Sodi.
from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 Of the tribe of Joseph, of the sceptre of Manasses, Gaddi the son of Susi.
from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 Of the tribe of Aser, Sthur the son of Michael.
from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 Of the tribe of Nephtali, Nahabi the son of Vapsi.
from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 Of the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.
and from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.
16 These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to view the land: and he called Osee the son of Nun, Josue.
These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.
17 And Moses sent them to view the land of Chanaan, and said to them: Go you up by the south side. And when you shall come to the mountains,
When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country.
18 View the land, of what sort it is: and the people that are the inhabitants thereof, whether they be strong or weak: few in number or many:
See what the land is like and whether its people are strong or weak, few or many.
19 The land itself, whether it be good or bad: what manner of cities, walled or without walls:
Is the land where they live good or bad? Are the cities where they dwell open camps or fortifications?
20 The ground, fat or barren, woody or without trees. Be of good courage, and bring us of the fruits of the land. Now it was the time when the first ripe grapes are fit to be eaten.
Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous, and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
21 And when they were gone up, they viewed the land from the desert of Sin, unto Rohob as you enter into Emath.
So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
22 And they went up at the south side, and came to Hebron, where were Achiman and Sisai and Tholmai the sons of Enac. For Hebron was built seven years before Tanis the city of Egypt.
They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
23 And going forward as far as the torrent of the cluster of grapes, they cut off a branch with its cluster of grapes, which two men carried upon a lever. They took also of the pomegranates and of the figs of that place:
When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.
24 Which was called Nehelescol, that is to say, the torrent of the cluster of grapes, because from thence the children of Israel had carried a cluster of grapes.
Because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there, that place was called the Valley of Eshcol.
25 And they that went to spy out the land returned after forty days, having gone round all the country,
After forty days the men returned from spying out the land,
26 And came to Moses and Aaron and to all the assembly of the children of Israel to the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades. And speaking to them and to all the multitude, they shewed them the fruits of the land:
and they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 And they related and said: We came into the land to which thou sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey as may be known by these fruits:
And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit!
28 But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great and walled. We saw there the race of Enac.
Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hethite and the Jebusite and the Amorrhite in the mountains: but the Chanaanite abideth by the sea and near the streams of the Jordan.
The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 In the mean time Caleb, to still the murmuring of the people that rose against Moses, said: Let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to conquer it.
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!”
31 But the others, that had been with him, said: No, we are not able to go up to this people, because they are stronger than we.
But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
32 And they spoke ill of the land, which they had viewed, before the children of Israel, saying: The land which we have viewed, devoureth its inhabitants: the people, that we beheld, are of a tall stature.
So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.
33 There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind: in comparison of whom, we seemed like locusts.
We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
