Numbers 13

Spies View the Land

1Then 1the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 2“2Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” 3So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the 3command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. 4These then 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, 4Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8from the tribe of Ephraim, 5Hoshea the son of Nun; 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, 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 are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called 6Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

17When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up 7there into 8the 9Negev; then go up into the hill country. 18See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. 19How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they 10like open camps or with fortifications? 2011How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? 12Make an 13effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

21So they went up and spied out the land from 14the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, 1516at Lebo-hamath. 22When they had gone up into 17the Negev, 18they came to Hebron where 19Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the 20descendants of 21Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before 22Zoan in Egypt.)

23Then they came to the 23valley of 2425Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24That place was called the valley of 26Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

The Spies’ Reports

25When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel 27in the wilderness of Paran, at 28Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and 29it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and 30this is its fruit. 28Nevertheless, 31the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw 32the 33descendants of Anak there. 29Amalek is living in the land of 34the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and 35the Amorites are living in the hill country, and 36the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

30Then Caleb quieted the people 37before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” 31But the men who had gone up with him said, “38We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” 32So they gave out to the sons of Israel 39a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is 40a land that devours its 41inhabitants; and 42all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33There also we saw the 43Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and 44we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”