Numbers 13
1 The Lord told Moses,
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “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.”
Send thou men, that they may search out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel. Ye shall send a man of every tribe of his fathers, each a prince among them.
3 Moses did as the Lord had ordered and sent the men out from the Desert of Paran. They were all leaders of the Israelites.
And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran: according to the commandment of Jehovah, all of them heads of the children of Israel.
4 Their names were: Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben.
And these are their names: for the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;
5 Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon.
for the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;
6 Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah.
for the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
7 Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar.
for the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;
8 Hoshea, son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim.
for the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;
9 Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin.
for the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;
10 Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun.
for the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;
11 Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph).
for the tribe of Joseph, for the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;
12 Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan.
for the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;
13 Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher.
for the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;
14 Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali.
for the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;
15 Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad.
for the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16 These were the names of the men that Moses sent to explore the country. Moses called Hoshea Joshua.
These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to search out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Jehoshua.
17 Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, telling them, “Go through the Negev and on into the hill country.
And Moses sent them to search out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up this way by the south and go up into the hill-country,
18 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?
and ye shall see the land, what it is; and the people that dwell in it, whether they are strong or weak, few or many;
19 Is the land where they're living good or bad? Are their towns like open camps, or do they have defensive walls?
and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;
20 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.)
and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there are trees in it, or not. And take courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first grapes.
21 So the men went and explored the land all the way from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, bear Lebo-hamath.
And they went up, and searched out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, where one comes towards Hamath.
22 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.
And they went up by the south, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
23 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.
And they came as far as the valley of Eshcol, and cut down thence a branch with one bunch of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a pole; and [they brought] of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
24 (The place was named the Valley of Eshcol because of the bunch of grapes they took from there.)
That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the grapes which the children of Israel had cut down there.
25 Forty days later the men returned from exploring the country.
And they returned from searching out the land after forty days.
26 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.
And they came, and went to Moses and to Aaron, and to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to the whole assembly; and shewed them the fruit of the land.
27 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!
And they told him, and said, We came to the land to which thou didst send us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28 But the people living there are strong, and their towns are big and have defensive walls. We also saw some descendants of Anak there.
Only, the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, very great; moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29 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.”
Amalek dwells in the land of the south; and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill-country; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the side of the Jordan.
30 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!”
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up boldly and possess it, for we are well able to do it.
31 But the men who had gone with him disagreed. “We can't go and fight these people! They're much stronger than us!”
But the men that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.
32 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!
And they brought to the children of Israel an evil report of the land which they had searched out, saying, The land, which we have passed through to search it out, is a land that eateth up its inhabitants; and all the people that we have seen in it are men of great stature;
33 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!”
and there have we seen giants — the sons of Anak are of the giants — and we were in our sight as grasshoppers, and so we were also in their sight.
