Numbers 13
1 And there the Lord spak to Moises,
And the LORD said to Moses,
2 and seide, Sende thou men that schulen biholde the lond of Canaan, which Y schal yyue to the sones of Israel, of ech lynage o man of the princes.
“Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.”
3 Moises dide that that the Lord comaundide, and sente fro the deseert of Pharan princes, men of whiche these ben the names.
So at the consent of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites,
4 Of the lynage of Ruben, Semmya, the sone of Zectur.
and these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;
5 Of the lynage of Symeon, Saphat, the sone of Hury.
from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 Of the lynage of Juda, Caleph, the sone of Jephone.
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
7 Of the lynage of Isachar, Igal, the sone of Joseph.
from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 Of the lynage of Effraym, Osee, the sone of Nun.
from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
9 Of the lynage of Beniamyn, Phalti, the sone of Raphu.
from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 Of the lynage of Zabulon, Gediel, the sone of Sodi.
from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 Of the lynage of Joseph, of the gouernaunce of Manasses, Gaddi, the sone of Susy.
from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
12 Of the lynage of Dan, Amyel, the sone of Gemalli.
from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 Of the lynage of Aser, Sur, the sone of Mychael.
from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 Of the lynage of Neptalym, Nabdi, the sone of Napsi.
from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 Of the lynage of Gad, Guel, the sone of Machi.
and from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.
16 These ben the names of men, which Moises sente to biholde the lond of Canaan; and he clepide Osee, the sone of Nun, Josue.
These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.
17 Therfor Moises sente hem to biholde the lond of Canaan, and seide to hem, `Stie ye bi the south coost; and whanne ye comen to the hillis,
When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country.
18 biholde ye the lond, what maner lond it is; and biholde ye the puple which is the dwellere therof, whether it is strong, ethir feble, `whether thei ben fewe in noumbre, ether manye;
See what the land is like and whether its people are strong or weak, few or many.
19 whether that lond is good, ethir yuel; what maner citees ben, wallid, ether without wallis;
Is the land where they live good or bad? Are the cities where they dwell open camps or fortifications?
20 whether the lond is fat, ether bareyn, `whether it is ful of woodis, ethir without trees. Be ye coumfortid, and `brynge ye to vs of the fruytis of that lond. Sotheli the tyme was, whanne grapis first ripe myyten be etun thanne.
Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous, and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
21 And whanne thei hadden stied, thei aspieden the lond, fro the deseert of Syn `til to Rohob, as men entryth to Emath.
So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
22 And thei stieden to the south, and camen in to Ebron, where Achyman, and Sisai, and Tholmai, the sones of Enach, weren; for Hebron was maad bi seuen yeer bifor Thamnys, the citee of Egipt.
They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
23 And thei yeden til to the stronde of clustre, and kittiden doun a sioun with his grape, which twei men baren in a barre; also thei token of pumgarnadis, and of the figis of that place which is clepid Nehelescol,
When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.
24 that is, the stronde of grape, for the sones of Israel baren a clustre fro thennus.
Because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there, that place was called the Valley of Eshcol.
25 And the aspieris of the lond, whanne thei hadden cumpassid al the cuntrey, after fourti daies camen to Moises and Aaron,
After forty days the men returned from spying out the land,
26 and to al the cumpany of the sones of Israel, in to the deseert of Pharan which is in Cades. And `the aspieris spaken to hem, and schewiden the fruytis of the lond to al the multitude, and telden,
and they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 and seiden, We camen to the lond, to which thou sentest vs, which lond treuli flowith with mylk and hony, as it may be knowun bi these fruytis;
And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit!
28 but it hath strongeste inhabiteris, and grete cytees, and wallid; we sien there the kynrede of Anachym; Amalech dwellith in the south;
Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 Ethei, and Jebusei, and Amorey dwellen in the hilli placis; forsothe Cananey dwellith bisidis the see, and bisidis the floodis of Jordan.
The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Among thes thingis Caleph peeside the grutchyng of the puple, that was maad ayens Moises, and seide, `Stie we, and welde we the lond, for we moun gete it.
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!”
31 Forsothe other aspieris, that weren with hym, seiden, We moun not stie to this puple, for it is strongere than we.
But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
32 And thei deprauyden the lond which thei hadden biholde, anentis the sones of Israel, and seiden, The lond which we cumpassiden deuourith hise dwelleris; the puple which we bihelden is of large stature; there we syen summe wondris ayens kynde,
So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.
33 of the sones of Enach, of the kynde of geauntis, to whiche we weren comparisound, and weren seien as locustis.
We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
