The Spies
Numbers 13, verse 1. Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Numbers 13, verse 2. “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a ruler among them.” Numbers 13, verse 3. So Moses sent them from the Desert of Paran at the Lord's voice, and all the men were rulers of the children of Israel. Numbers 13, verse 4. Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; Numbers 13, verse 5. from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; Numbers 13, verse 6. from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; Numbers 13, verse 7. from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; Numbers 13, verse 8. from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; Numbers 13, verse 9. from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; Numbers 13, verse 10. from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; Numbers 13, verse 11. from the tribe of Joseph, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; Numbers 13, verse 12. from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; Numbers 13, verse 13. from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; Numbers 13, verse 14. from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; Numbers 13, verse 15. from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. Numbers 13, verse 16. These are the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land. Now Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua. Numbers 13, verse 17. Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up to this desert, and go up to the mountain; Numbers 13, verse 18. and you will see the land, and the people who dwell upon it. What are they? Are they strong or weak, few or many? Numbers 13, verse 19. Also, what is the land they dwell in? Is it good or bad? Then too, what about the cities they inhabit? Are they walled or unwalled? Numbers 13, verse 20. Then again, what about the ground? Is it fertile or neglected? Are there trees on it? Persevere, and you shall receive some of the fruits of the land.” Now the days were the days of spring, the forerunner of the grapes. Numbers 13, verse 21. So they went up and spied out the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. Numbers 13, verse 22. Then they went up through the desert and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) Numbers 13, verse 23. Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol and surveyed it, and cut down a branch there with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. Numbers 13, verse 24. The place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster the sons of Israel cut down there. Numbers 13, verse 25. Then they returned from spying out the land after forty days. Numbers 13, verse 26. Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Desert of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Numbers 13, verse 27. Then they told him and said, “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Numbers 13, verse 28. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. Numbers 13, verse 29. The Amalekites dwell in the land toward the south; the Hittites, the Evites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” Numbers 13, verse 30. Then Caleb quieted the people towards Moses, and said to him, “No, but let us go up at once and take possession of it, for we are well able to overcome them.” Numbers 13, verse 31. But the men who went up with him said, “We are not going up, for we are unable to go up against them, because they are stronger than we.” Numbers 13, verse 32. So they instilled a terror for the land which they spied out among the children of Israel, saying, “The land through which we went as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great stature. Numbers 13, verse 33. There we saw the giants; and we seemed like grasshoppers to them, but so we actually were.”