Numbers 13
1 The Lord told Moses,
And there, the Lord 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 men, who may examine the land of Canaan, which I will give to the sons of Israel, one from the rulers of each tribe.”
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.
Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending, from the desert of Paran, leading men, whose names are these:
4 Their names were: Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben.
from the tribe of Ruben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;
5 Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon.
from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;
6 Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah.
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
7 Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar.
from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;
8 Hoshea, son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim.
from the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea the son of Nun;
9 Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin.
from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;
10 Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun.
from the tribe of Zebulon, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;
11 Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph).
from the tribe of Joseph, of the scepter of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;
12 Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan.
from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;
13 Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher.
from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;
14 Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali.
from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;
15 Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad.
from the tribe of Gad, Guel 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 examine the land. And he called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua.
17 Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, telling them, “Go through the Negev and on into the hill country.
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,
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?
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,
19 Is the land where they're living good or bad? Are their towns like open camps, or do they have defensive walls?
and the land itself, whether it is good or bad, what kind of cities, walled or without walls,
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.)
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.
21 So the men went and explored the land all the way from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, bear Lebo-hamath.
And when they had ascended, they explored the land from the desert of Sin, all the way to Rehob, as one enters into 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 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.
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 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,
24 (The place was named the Valley of Eshcol because of the bunch of grapes they took from there.)
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.
25 Forty days later the men returned from exploring the country.
And those exploring the land returned after forty days, having circulated through the entire region.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
But it has very strong occupants, and the cities are great and also walled. We saw the race 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 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.”
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!”
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.”
31 But the men who had gone with him disagreed. “We can't go and fight these people! They're much stronger than us!”
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.”
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 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.
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!”
There, we saw some monsters among the sons of Anak, of the race of giants; by comparison with them, we seemed like locusts.”
