⁹ For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them.

²⁴ And ^(A)they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. ²⁵ And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’

²⁶ “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. ²⁷ And ^(B)you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord ^(C)hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, ^(D)to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. ²⁸ Where are we going up? ^(E)Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, ^(F)“The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen ^(G)the sons of the Anakim there.”’

²³ And ^(A)they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,^[a] because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

Report of the Spies

²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. ²⁶ And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at ^(B)Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It ^(C)flows with milk and honey, ^(D)and this is its fruit. ^28 (E)However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. ^29 (F)The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. ^(G)And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

³⁰ But ^(H)Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” ^31 (I)Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” ³² So ^(J)they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and ^(K)all the people that we saw in it are of great height. ³³ And there we saw the ^(L)Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the ^(M)Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves ^(N)like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people ^(O)wept that night. ² And all the people of Israel ^(P)grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or ^(Q)would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? ^(R)Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to one another, ^(S)“Let us choose a leader and ^(T)go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then ^(U)Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. ^6 (V)And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ^(W)“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. ⁸ If ^(X)the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, ^(Y)a land that flows with milk and honey. ⁹ Only ^(Z)do not rebel against the Lord. And ^(AA)do not fear the people of the land, for ^(AB)they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” ^10 (AC)Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But ^(AD)the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.