< Numbers 13 >

1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Send some men to examine the land of Canaan, which I have given to the people of Israel. Send a man from every tribe of their ancestors. Each man must be a leader among them.”
Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
3 Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, so that they might obey Yahweh's command. All of them were leaders among the people of Israel.
And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.
4 These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua 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 son of Hori;
Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is to say, from the tribe Manasseh), Gaddi son of Susi;
Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to examine the land. Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name of Joshua.
These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
17 Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan. He said to them, “Approach from the Negev and go up into the hill country.
And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up this way southward, and go up to the mountain:
18 Examine the land to see what it is like. Observe the people who live there, whether they are strong or weak, and whether they are few or many.
And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwell in it, whether they are strong or weak, few or many;
19 See what the land is like where they live. Is it good or bad? What cities are there? Are they like camps, or are they fortified cities?
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 tents, or in strong holds;
20 See what the land is like, whether it is good for growing crops or not, and whether there are trees there or not. Be brave and bring back samples of the land's produce.” Now the time was the season for the first ripe grapes.
And what the land is, whether it is rich or barren, whether there is wood in it, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
21 So the men went up and examined the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo Hamath.
So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
22 They went up from the Negev and arrived at Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, clans descended from Anak, were there. Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
And they went up by the south, and came to Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut down a branch with a cluster of grapes. They carried it on a staff between two of their group. They also brought pomegranates and figs.
And they came to the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
24 That place was named the Valley of Eshkol, because of the grape cluster that the people of Israel cut down there.
The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from there.
25 After forty days, they returned from examining the land.
And they returned from searching the land after forty days.
26 They came back to Moses, Aaron, and all the community of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the community, and showed them the produce from the land.
And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 They told Moses, “We reached the land to which you sent us. It certainly flows with milk and honey. Here is some produce from it.
And they told him, and said, We came to the land where thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28 However, the people who make their homes there are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. We also saw descendants of Anak there.
Nevertheless the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites have their homes in the hill country. The Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan River.”
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the banks of the Jordan.
30 Then Caleb silenced the people who were before Moses and said, “Let us go up and take possession of the land, for we are certainly able to conquer it.”
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the other men who had gone with him said, “We are not able to attack the people because they are stronger than we are.”
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 So they spread around a discouraging report to the people of Israel about the land that they had examined. They said, “The land that we looked at is a land that eats up its inhabitants. All the people whom we saw there are people of great height.
And they brought an bad report of the land which they had searched to the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have passed to search it, is a land that eateth up its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
33 There we saw giants, descendants of Anak, people who came from giants. In our own sight we were like grasshoppers in comparison with them, and this is what we were in their sight, too.”
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, who come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

< Numbers 13 >