26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at (A)Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly [a]flows with (B)milk and honey, (C)and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the (D)people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of (E)Anak there. 29 (F)The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

30 Then (G)Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

31 (H)But 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.” 32 And they (I)gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and (J)all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the [b]giants ((K)the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were (L)like[c] grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were (M)in their sight.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 13:27 Has an abundance of food
  2. Numbers 13:33 Heb. nephilim
  3. Numbers 13:33 As mere insects

Report on the Exploration

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh(A) in the Desert of Paran.(B) There they reported to them(C) and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.(D) 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!(E) Here is its fruit.(F) 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.(G) We even saw descendants of Anak(H) there.(I) 29 The Amalekites(J) live in the Negev; the Hittites,(K) Jebusites(L) and Amorites(M) live in the hill country;(N) and the Canaanites(O) live near the sea and along the Jordan.(P)

30 Then Caleb(Q) silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”(R) 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report(S) about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours(T) those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.(U) 33 We saw the Nephilim(V) there (the descendants of Anak(W) come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers(X) in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

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