Amanani 13
1 INkosi yasikhuluma kuMozisi isithi:
The Lord told Moses,
2 Zithumele amadoda ukuthi ahlole ilizwe leKhanani engibapha lona abantwana bakoIsrayeli; uthume indoda eyodwa yaleso lalesosizwe saboyise, yonke eyinduna phakathi kwabo.
“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 UMozisi wawathuma-ke esuka enkangala yeParani, ngokomlayo weNkosi; wonke lawomadoda ayezinhloko zabantwana bakoIsrayeli.
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 Lala ngamabizo awo; owesizwe sakoRubeni, uShamuwa indodana kaZakuri.
Their names were: Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben.
5 Owesizwe sakoSimeyoni, uShafati indodana kaHori.
Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon.
6 Owesizwe sakoJuda, uKalebi indodana kaJefune.
Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah.
7 Owesizwe sakoIsakari, uIgali indodana kaJosefa.
Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar.
8 Owesizwe sakoEfrayimi, uHoseya indodana kaNuni.
Hoshea, son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim.
9 Owesizwe sakoBhenjamini, uPaliti indodana kaRafu.
Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin.
10 Owesizwe sakoZebuluni, uGadiyeli indodana kaSodi.
Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun.
11 Owesizwe sakoJosefa, owesizwe sakoManase, uGadi indodana kaSusi.
Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph).
12 Owesizwe sakoDani, uAmiyeli indodana kaGemali.
Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan.
13 Owesizwe sakoAsheri, uSethuri indodana kaMikayeli.
Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher.
14 Owesizwe sakoNafithali, uNabi indodana kaVofisi.
Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali.
15 Owesizwe sakoGadi, uGewuweli indodana kaMaki.
Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad.
16 La ngamabizo amadoda uMozisi awathumayo ukuhlola ilizwe. UMozisi wasembiza uHoseya indodana kaNuni ngokuthi nguJoshuwa.
These were the names of the men that Moses sent to explore the country. Moses called Hoshea Joshua.
17 UMozisi wasewathuma ukuhlola ilizwe leKhanani, wathi kuwo: Yenyukani lapha liye eningizimu, lenyukele entabeni,
Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, telling them, “Go through the Negev and on into the hill country.
18 libone ilizwe ukuthi linjani, labantu abakhileyo kulo ukuthi balamandla kumbe babuthakathaka, balutshwana kumbe banengi yini,
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 lokuthi linjani ilizwe abahlala kulo, loba lihle loba libi, lokuthi injani imizi abahlala kiyo, loba izinkamba loba izinqaba,
Is the land where they're living good or bad? Are their towns like open camps, or do they have defensive walls?
20 lokuthi ilizwe linjani, loba livundile loba lilugwadule, lokuthi lilezihlahla loba hayi. Manini isibindi, lithathe okwesithelo selizwe. Lalesisikhathi kwakuyisikhathi sezithelo zokuqala zevini.
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 Basebesenyuka, balihlola ilizwe kusukela enkangala yeZini kuze kube seRehobi, ekungeneni eHamathi.
So the men went and explored the land all the way from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, bear Lebo-hamath.
22 Benyuka-ke ngeningizimu bafika eHebroni, lapho kwakulaboAhimani, uSheshayi, loTalimayi, abantwana bakaAnaki. IHebroni lakhiwa-ke iminyaka eyisikhombisa kungakabi leZowani eGibhithe.
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 Basebefika esihotsheni seEshikoli; baquma khona ugatsha olulehlukuzo elilodwa lezithelo zevini, baluthwalisana ngesigodo ngababili, lokwamapomegranati lokwemikhiwa.
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 Leyondawo kwathiwa yisihotsha seEshikoli, ngenxa yehlukuzo abantwana bakoIsrayeli abaliqumayo lapho.
(The place was named the Valley of Eshcol because of the bunch of grapes they took from there.)
25 Basebebuya bevela ekuhloleni ilizwe ekupheleni kwensuku ezingamatshumi amane.
Forty days later the men returned from exploring the country.
26 Basebehamba bafika kuMozisi lakuAroni lakunhlangano yonke yabantwana bakoIsrayeli enkangala yeParani, eKadeshi; basebebuyisela umbiko kubo lakunhlangano yonke, basebebatshengisa isithelo selizwe.
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 Basebembikela bathi: Safika elizweni owasithuma kulo; njalo ngeqiniso, ligeleza uchago loluju; lalesi yisithelo salo.
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 Kodwa-ke abantu abahlala elizweni balamandla, lemizi ibiyelwe ngemithangala, mikhulu kakhulu; njalo-ke sibone khona inzalo kaAnaki.
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 AmaAmaleki akhile elizweni leningizimu; lamaHethi lamaJebusi lamaAmori akhile entabeni; lamaKhanani akhile elwandle leceleni kweJordani.
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 UKalebi wasethulisa abantu phambi kukaMozisi, wathi: Asenyukeni lokwenyuka, sidle ilifa lalo, ngoba silamandla okulinqoba.
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 Kodwa amadoda ayenyuke laye athi: Kasilamandla okwenyukela kulabobantu, ngoba balamandla kulathi.
But the men who had gone with him disagreed. “We can't go and fight these people! They're much stronger than us!”
32 Basebeveza umbiko omubi ngelizwe ababelihlolile ebantwaneni bakoIsrayeli besithi: Ilizwe esidabule kulo ukulihlola yilizwe elidla abantu abahlala kulo; labantu bonke esababona phakathi kwalo bangamadoda amade kakhulu.
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 Lalapho sibone iziqhwaga, amadodana kaAnaki, avela eziqhwageni. Lemehlweni ethu sasinjengentethe, sasinjalo lemehlweni azo.
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!”
