1The Lord said to Moses,2‘Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.’3So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.4These are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;5from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;9from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;10from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;11from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;12from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;13from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;14from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;15from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.16These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)17When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, ‘Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.18See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.19What 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?20How 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.’ (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)21So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, towards Lebo Hamath.22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)23When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[1] 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 and figs.24That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there.25At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
Report on the exploration
26They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.27They gave Moses this account: ‘We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.28But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.29The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.’30Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’31But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’32And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.33We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.’
Numbers 13
English Standard Version
Spies Sent into Canaan
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,2“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” (Nu 32:8; De 1:22)3So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. (Nu 12:16; Nu 13:26; Nu 32:8; De 1:19; De 9:23)4And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;5from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; (Nu 13:30; Nu 14:6; Nu 14:30; Nu 26:65; Nu 32:12; Nu 34:19; De 1:36; Jos 14:6; Jos 15:13; Jud 1:12; 1Ch 4:15)7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; (Ex 24:13; Nu 11:28; Nu 13:16; Nu 14:6; Nu 14:30; Nu 14:38; De 32:44; Ne 8:17)9from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;10from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;11from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi;12from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;13from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;14from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;15from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.16These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. (Nu 13:8)17Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, (Nu 13:22; Nu 13:29; Nu 21:1; Jos 15:19; Jud 1:9; Jud 1:15; Jud 1:19)18and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many,19and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds,20and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. (De 31:6; De 31:23; Ne 9:25; Ne 9:35; Eze 34:14)21So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. (Nu 20:1; Nu 33:36; Nu 34:3; Nu 34:8; Jos 15:1)22They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) (Nu 13:17; Nu 13:33; De 1:28; De 2:10; De 9:2; Jos 11:21; Jos 14:15; Jos 15:14; Jud 1:10; Ps 78:12; Ps 78:43; Isa 19:11; Isa 19:13; Isa 30:4; Eze 30:14)23And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. (Nu 32:9; De 1:24)24That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,[1] because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.
Report of the Spies
25At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.26And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. (Nu 20:1; Nu 20:16; Nu 32:8; Nu 33:36; De 1:19; Jos 14:6)27And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. (Ex 3:8; De 1:25)28However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. (De 1:28; De 9:1)29The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” (Ex 17:8; Nu 14:25; Nu 14:43)30But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Nu 14:6; Nu 14:24)31Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” (Nu 32:9; De 1:28; Jos 14:8)32So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. (Nu 14:36; Am 2:9)33And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Ge 6:4; Isa 40:22)