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13 ¶ And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

Send thou men that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the sons of Israel; of every tribe of their fathers ye shall send a man, each one a prince among them.

And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran; all those men were princes of the sons of Israel.

And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur.

Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.

Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.

Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea, the son of Nun.

Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.

10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.

11 Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.

12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.

13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael.

14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.

15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel, the son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua.

17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said unto them, Go up this way towards the Negev and go up into the mountain

18 and see the land, what it is, and the people that dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, few or many,

19 and how the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad, and what cities there are that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds,

20 And what the land is, whether it is fertile or sterile, whether there are trees therein, 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.

21 ¶ So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

22 And they ascended by the Negev and came unto Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and from there they cut down 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.

24 The place was called the brook Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

26 ¶ And they went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh and brought back word unto them and unto all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 And they told him and said, We came unto the land where thou didst send us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

28 Nevertheless the people are strong that dwell in that land, and the cities are very great and strong; and moreover we saw the sons of Anak there.

29 Amalek dwells in the land of the Negev, and the Hittite and the Jebusite and the Amorite dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.

30 Then 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.

31 But the men that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against that people, for they are stronger than we.

32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the sons of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone through to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

33 And there we saw giants, the sons of Anak, of the race of the giants; and we were in our own sight as locusts, and so we were in their sight.

Exploring Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore(A) the land of Canaan,(B) which I am giving to the Israelites.(C) From each ancestral tribe(D) send one of its leaders.”

So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.(E) These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;(F)

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;(G)

from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;

12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;

13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;

14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;

15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore(H) the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun(I) the name Joshua.)(J)

17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,(K) he said, “Go up through the Negev(L) and on into the hill country.(M) 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.(N)” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)(O)

21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin(P) as far as Rehob,(Q) toward Lebo Hamath.(R) 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,(S) where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,(T) the descendants of Anak,(U) lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)(V) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[a](W) they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates(X) and figs.(Y) 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days(Z) they returned from exploring the land.(AA)

Report on the Exploration

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh(AB) in the Desert of Paran.(AC) There they reported to them(AD) and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.(AE) 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!(AF) Here is its fruit.(AG) 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.(AH) We even saw descendants of Anak(AI) there.(AJ) 29 The Amalekites(AK) live in the Negev; the Hittites,(AL) Jebusites(AM) and Amorites(AN) live in the hill country;(AO) and the Canaanites(AP) live near the sea and along the Jordan.(AQ)

30 Then Caleb(AR) silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”(AS) 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report(AT) about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours(AU) those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.(AV) 33 We saw the Nephilim(AW) there (the descendants of Anak(AX) come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers(AY) in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 13:23 Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.