Numbers 13

Moses Sends 12 Spies to Explore the Land

1 The Lord told Moses.

2 Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Pick one leader from each tribe.

3 Moses sent them out from the wilderness of Paran, just like the Lord commanded. All of them were leaders from their tribes.

4 From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur.

5 From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori.

6 From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.

7 From the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph.

8 From the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea (Joshua) son of Nun.

9 From the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu.

10 From the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi.

11 From the tribe of Manasseh (Joseph’s tribe), Gaddi son of Susi.

12 From the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli.

13 From the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael.

14 From the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi.

15 From the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

16 These were the men Moses sent to explore Canaan. Moses changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua.

The Spies Check Out the Land

17 Moses sent them to explore Canaan and told them, Go through the Negev and into the hill country.

18 Check out the land. Is it good or bad, Are the people there strong or weak, Are there a lot of them or just a few,

19 Is the land fertile or dry, Are the cities open or do they have strong walls,

20 Is the land rich or poor, Are there trees, Bring back some fruit from the land. It was the season for the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.

22 They traveled through the Negev and reached Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.

23 They came to the valley of Eshcol, where they cut a branch with a cluster of grapes so big they had to carry it on a pole between two men. They also picked some pomegranates and figs.

24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes they found there.

25 After forty days of exploring the land, they returned.

The Spies Give Their Report

26 They came back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They gave their report and showed the people the fruit they brought back.

27 They said, We went to the land you sent us to. It really is flowing with milk and honey. Look at this fruit.

28 But the people there are strong. The cities are huge and heavily guarded. And we even saw the descendants of Anak there.

29 The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan River.

30 But Caleb told the people, We should go take the land right now! We can do it!

31 But the other men who went with him said, No way! We cannot fight those people. They are way stronger than us.

32 They spread a bad report about the land, saying, The land we explored will swallow us up! The people there are giants.

33 We even saw the Nephilim, the descendants of Anak. We felt like grasshoppers next to them, and that is probably how they saw us too.