Numbers 13

The LORD spoke to Moses:

KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

"Send men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man from each ancestral tribe — every one of them a chieftain."

KJV Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

So Moses dispatched them from the Wilderness of Paran at the LORD's command. All of them were leaders among the Israelites.

KJV 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.

These were their names: From the tribe of Reuben — Shammua son of Zaccur.

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

From the tribe of Simeon — Shaphat son of Hori.

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

From the tribe of Judah — Caleb son of Jephunneh.

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

From the tribe of Issachar — Igal son of Joseph.

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

From the tribe of Ephraim — Hoshea son of Nun.

KJV Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.

From the tribe of Benjamin — Palti son of Raphu.

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

From the tribe of Zebulun — Gaddiel son of Sodi.

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

From the tribe of Joseph — specifically, from the tribe of Manasseh — Gaddi son of Susi.

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

From the tribe of Dan — Ammiel son of Gemalli.

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

From the tribe of Asher — Sethur son of Michael.

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

From the tribe of Naphtali — Nahbi son of Vophsi.

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

From the tribe of Gad — Geuel son of Machi.

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

These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout the land. Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun as Joshua.

KJV These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.

Moses sent them to scout the land of Canaan, telling them, "Go up through the Negev and continue up into the hill country.

KJV And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:

Observe what the land is like, and the people living in it — whether they are strong or weak, few or many.

KJV And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;

What is the land they inhabit like — is it good or poor? And the cities where they live — are they open encampments or fortified strongholds?

KJV And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;

Is the soil rich or thin? Are there trees on it or not? Be bold, and bring back some of the land's produce." (It was the season of the first ripe grapes.)

KJV And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood 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.

They went up and scouted the land from the Wilderness of Zin all the way to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.

KJV So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

They went up through the Negev and reached Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai — descendants of Anak — were living. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

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

They reached the Wadi Eshcol and cut a branch there bearing a single cluster of grapes so large that two men had to carry it on a pole between them. They also brought back pomegranates and figs.

KJV And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

That place was called the Wadi Eshcol — "Cluster Valley" — because of the grape cluster the Israelites cut there.

KJV The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

They returned from scouting the land at the end of forty days.

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

They traveled back and came to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite congregation in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They delivered their report to them — to the whole congregation — and displayed the land's produce.

KJV And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.

They gave their report: "We entered the land where you sent us, and it truly does flow with milk and honey — here is its produce.

KJV And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

However — the people living in the land are fierce, the cities are fortified and extremely large, and we also saw descendants of Anak there.

KJV Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

The Amalekites occupy the Negev region. The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites occupy the hill country. The Canaanites occupy the territory along the sea and along the Jordan."

KJV 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 coast of Jordan.

Caleb silenced the people before Moses and declared, "We should go up immediately and take possession of it, because we are fully capable of doing so!"

KJV 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.

But the men who had gone up with him countered, "We cannot attack those people — they are stronger than we are."

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

They spread a slanderous report about the land they had scouted among the Israelites, saying, "The land we traveled through to scout is a land that devours its inhabitants! And all the people we saw in it are men of enormous size.

KJV And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

We saw the Nephilim there — the Anakites descend from the Nephilim — and in our own eyes we seemed like grasshoppers, and that is how we must have appeared in their eyes too."

KJV And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.