Numbers 13
1 And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
The Lord told 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 some men to explore the land of Canaan, the country I'm giving to the Israelites. Choose one of the leaders from each of the tribes to go and do this.”
3 Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending from the desert of Pharan, principal men, whose names are these:
Moses did as the Lord had ordered and sent the men out from the Desert of Paran. They were all leaders of the Israelites.
4 Of the tribe of Ruben, Sammua the son of Zechur.
Their names were: Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben.
5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Saphat the son of Hurl.
Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon.
6 Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of Jephone.
Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah.
7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar.
8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Osee the son of Nun.
Hoshea, son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim.
9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Phalti the son of Raphu.
Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin.
10 Of the tribe of Zabulon, Geddiel the son of Sodi.
Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun.
11 Of the tribe of Joseph, of the sceptre of Manasses, Gaddi the son of Susi.
Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph).
12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan.
13 Of the tribe of Aser, Sthur the son of Michael.
Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher.
14 Of the tribe of Nephtali, Nahabi the son of Vapsi.
Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali.
15 Of the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.
Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad.
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 that Moses sent to explore the country. Moses called Hoshea 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,
Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, telling them, “Go through the Negev and on 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 place looks like, and find out about the people living there—are they strong or weak? Are there many of them or only a few?
19 The land itself, whether it be good or bad: what manner of cities, walled or without walls:
Is the land where they're living good or bad? Are their towns like open camps, or do they have defensive walls?
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 productive or not? Is it forested? Be brave, and bring back some of the country's fruit.” (It was the beginning of the grape harvest.)
21 And when they were gone up, they viewed the land from the desert of Sin, unto Rohob as you enter into Emath.
So the men went and explored the land all the way from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, bear 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 through the Negev and arrived in Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. This town was built seven years before the Egyptian town of Zoan.
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 arrived at the Valley of Eshcol they chopped down a branch that had just one bunch of grapes. They had to carry it on a pole held between two men. They also collected 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.
(The place was named the Valley of Eshcol because of the bunch of grapes they took from there.)
25 And they that went to spy out the land returned after forty days, having gone round all the country,
Forty days later the men returned from exploring the country.
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:
They went to see Moses and Aaron, and all the Israelites gathered there at their camp in Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. They gave a report before everyone and showed them the fruit they had brought back from the country.
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:
This is the report they gave to Moses: “We went and explored the country you sent us to, and it is definitely very productive, as if it was flowing with milk and honey. Just look at 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.
But the people living there are strong, and their towns are big and have defensive walls. We also saw some 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 Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live on the sea coast and also beside 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 asked for quiet as the people stood before Moses and told them, “Let's go and take over the land. We can conquer the country, no doubt about 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 with him disagreed. “We can't go and fight these people! They're much stronger than us!”
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.
They spread a negative report among the Israelites about the country they had explored. They told people, “The country we explored destroys the people that live there. Plus everyone we saw was really big!
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 giants there—people descended from Anak the giant! Compared to them we looked like grasshoppers, and we must have looked like that to them too!”
