Numbers 13
1 And there, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
2 “Send men, who may examine the land of Canaan, which I will give to the sons of Israel, one from the rulers of each tribe.”
“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.”
3 Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending, from the desert of Paran, leading men, whose names are these:
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.
4 from the tribe of Ruben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;
These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;
from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;
from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea the son of Nun;
from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;
from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 from the tribe of Zebulon, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;
from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 from the tribe of Joseph, of the scepter of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;
from the tribe of Joseph (that is to say, from the tribe Manasseh), Gaddi son of Susi;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;
from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;
from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;
from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.
from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
16 These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to examine the land. And he called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua.
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.
17 And so, Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan, and he said to them: “Ascend by the south side. And when you arrive at the mountains,
Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan. He said to them, “Approach from the Negev and go up into the hill country.
18 consider the land, as to what kind it may be, and the people, who are its inhabitants, whether they may be strong or weak, whether they may be few in number or many,
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.
19 and the land itself, whether it is good or bad, what kind of cities, walled or without walls,
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?
20 the soil, rich or barren, forested or without trees. Be strong, and bring us some of the fruits of the land.” Now it was the time when the first ripe grapes were ready to be eaten.
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.
21 And when they had ascended, they explored the land from the desert of Sin, all the way to Rehob, as one enters into Hamath.
So the men went up and examined the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo Hamath.
22 And they ascended by the south side. And they arrived at Hebron, where there were Ahiman and Shishai and Talmai, the sons of Anak. For Hebron was founded seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt.
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.
23 And continuing on as far as the Torrent of the Cluster of Grapes, they cut off a vine with its grapes, which two men carried on a board. Likewise, they took from the pomegranates and the figs of that place,
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.
24 which was called Nehel Eshcol, that is, the Torrent of the Cluster of Grapes, because the sons of Israel had carried a cluster of grapes from there.
That place was named the Valley of Eshkol, because of the grape cluster that the people of Israel cut down there.
25 And those exploring the land returned after forty days, having circulated through the entire region.
After forty days, they returned from examining the land.
26 And they went to Moses and Aaron, and to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel in the desert of Paran, which is in Kadesh. And speaking to them, and to the entire multitude, they showed them the fruits of the land.
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.
27 And they explained, saying: “We went into the land, to which you sent us, which, it is true, flows with milk and honey, as one can know by these fruits.
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.
28 But it has very strong occupants, and the cities are great and also walled. We saw the race of Anak there.
However, the people who make their homes there are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. We also saw descendants of Anak there.
29 Amalek lives in the south. The Hethite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the mountains. And truly, the Canaanite stays near the sea and around the streams of the Jordan.”
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.”
30 During these events, Caleb, to restrain the murmuring of the people who rose up against Moses, said, “Let us ascend and possess the land, for we will be able to obtain it.”
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.”
31 Yet truly, the others, who had been with him, were saying, “By no means are we able to ascend to this people, because they are stronger than we are.”
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.”
32 And before the sons of Israel they disparaged the land, which they had inspected, saying: “The land, which we viewed, devours its inhabitants. The people, upon whom we gazed, were of lofty stature.
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.
33 There, we saw some monsters among the sons of Anak, of the race of giants; by comparison with them, we seemed like locusts.”
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.”
