Numbers 13
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
2 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.
“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 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.
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 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
Their names were: Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben.
5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon.
6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah.
7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar.
8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.
Hoshea, son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim.
9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin.
10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun.
11 Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph).
12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan.
13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher.
14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali.
15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
These were the names of the men that Moses sent to explore the country. Moses called Hoshea Joshua.
17 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:
Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, telling them, “Go through the Negev and on into the hill country.
18 And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwell in it, whether they are strong or weak, few or many;
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 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;
Is the land where they're living good or bad? Are their towns like open camps, or do they have defensive walls?
20 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.
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 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
So the men went and explored the land all the way from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, bear Lebo-hamath.
22 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.)
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 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.
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 The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from there.
(The place was named the Valley of Eshcol because of the bunch of grapes they took from there.)
25 And they returned from searching the land after forty days.
Forty days later the men returned from exploring the country.
26 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
But the men who had gone with him disagreed. “We can't go and fight these people! They're much stronger than us!”
32 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.
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 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.
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!”
