Numbers 13

Revised Geneva Translation

13 Then afterward, the people set out from Hazeroth and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

² And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

³ “Send men out to search the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. You shall send a man from every tribe of their fathers, all rulers among them.”

⁴ Then Moses sent them out of the wilderness of Paran at the Commandment of the LORD. All those men were heads of the children of Israel.

⁵ Now their names are these: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

⁶ of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

⁷ of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

⁸ of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

⁹ of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;

¹⁰ of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

¹¹ of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

¹² of the tribe of Joseph (of the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi;

¹³ of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

¹⁴ of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

¹⁵ of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

¹⁶ of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁷ These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called the name of Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua.

¹⁸ So Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way toward the south; and go up into the mountains.

¹⁹ “And consider the land, what it is. And the people who dwell in it, whether they are strong or weak, few or many.

²⁰ “Also, the land that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad and what cities that they dwell in, whether they dwell in tents or in walled towns.

²¹ “And the land, whether it is fat or lean, whether there are trees in it or not. And be of good courage. And bring from the fruit of the land.” For then was the time of the first ripe grapes.

²² So they went up and searched out the land, from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to go to Hamath.

²³ And they ascended toward the south and came to Hebron, where were Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak. And Hebron was built seven years before Zoan, in Egypt.

²⁴ Then they came to the river of Eshcol. And there they cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes. And they bore it upon a bar between two of them, and brought some pomegranates and some figs.

²⁵ That place was called the River Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down there.

²⁶ Then, after forty days, they turned away from searching out the land.

²⁷ And they came to Moses and to Aaron, and to all the Congregation of the children of Israel, in the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they brought tidings to them and to all the Congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

²⁸ And they told him, and said, “We came to the land where you have sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey. And here is some of its fruit.

²⁹ “Nevertheless, the people are strong who dwell in the land and the cities are walled and exceedingly great. And moreover, we saw the sons of Anak there.

³⁰ “The Amalekites dwell in the south country. And the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coasts of Jordan.”

³¹ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and possess it, for undoubtedly we shall overcome it.”

³² But the men who went up with him, said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than us.”

³³ So they brought back a bad report of the land which they had searched for the children of Israel, saying, “The land which we have gone through to search is a land that eats up its inhabitants. For all the people we saw in it were men of great stature.

³⁴ “For there we saw giants (the sons of Anak, who come from giants), so that we seemed in our own sight like grasshoppers. And so we were in their sight.”