²⁷ Thus they recounted to him and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and ^(A)it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and ^(B)this is its fruit. ²⁸ Nevertheless, ^(C)the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw ^(D)the ^[a]descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ Amalek is living in the land of ^(E)the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and ^(F)the Amorites are living in the hill country, and ^(G)the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people ^[b]before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we are surely able to overcome it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “^(H)We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” ³² So they gave out to the sons of Israel ^(I)a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, which we have passed through to spy out on, is ^(J)a land that devours its ^[c]inhabitants; and ^(K)all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. ³³ There also we saw the ^(L)Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and ^(M)we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation ^[d]lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept ^[e]that night. ² And all the sons of Israel ^(N)grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “^(O)Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ And why is Yahweh bringing us into this land, ^(P)to fall by the sword? ^(Q)Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, “^(R)Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”