Numbers 13
Legacy Standard Bible
The Spies Sent into Canaan
13 Then (A)Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, 2 “(B)Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the [a]command of Yahweh, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. 4 These then were their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;
6 from the tribe of Judah, (C)Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, (D)Hoshea the son of Nun;
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;
11 from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called (E)Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.
17 So Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up [b]there into (F)the [c]Negev; then go up into the hill country. 18 And see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. 19 And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they [d]like open camps or with fortifications? 20 (G)And how is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? [e]Make an (H)effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land from (I)the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, [f](J)at Lebo-hamath. 22 And they had gone up into (K)the Negev and [g]came to Hebron where (L)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the [h]descendants of (M)Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before (N)Zoan in Egypt.)
23 Then they came to the [i]valley of [j](O)Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the valley of [k]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.
The Spies Recount What They Saw
25 Then they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 and went and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel [l]in the wilderness of Paran, at (P)Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they recounted to him and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and (Q)it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and (R)this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless, (S)the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw (T)the [m]descendants of Anak there. 29 Amalek is living in the land of (U)the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and (V)the Amorites are living in the hill country, and (W)the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb quieted the people [n]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, “(X)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 (Y)a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, which we have passed through to spy out on, is (Z)a land that devours its [o]inhabitants; and (AA)all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33 There also we saw the (AB)Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and (AC)we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:3 Lit mouth
- Numbers 13:17 Lit here
- Numbers 13:17 South country, so in ch
- Numbers 13:19 Lit in
- Numbers 13:20 Lit Use your strength
- Numbers 13:21 Or to the entrance of Hamath
- Numbers 13:22 Lit one came; some mss they came
- Numbers 13:22 Lit children
- Numbers 13:23 Or wadi
- Numbers 13:23 Lit cluster
- Numbers 13:24 Lit cluster
- Numbers 13:26 Lit to
- Numbers 13:28 Lit born ones
- Numbers 13:30 Lit toward
- Numbers 13:32 Or settlers
Numbers 13
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Scouting Out Canaan
13 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Send men to scout out the land of Canaan(A) I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man who is a leader among them from each of their ancestral tribes.” 3 Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran at the Lord’s command. All the men were leaders in Israel.(B) 4 These were their names:
Shammua son of Zaccur from the tribe of Reuben;
5 Shaphat son of Hori from the tribe of Simeon;
6 Caleb(C) son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
7 Igal son of Joseph from the tribe of Issachar;
8 Hoshea son of Nun(D) from the tribe of Ephraim;
9 Palti son of Raphu from the tribe of Benjamin;
10 Gaddiel son of Sodi from the tribe of Zebulun;
11 Gaddi son of Susi from the tribe of Manasseh (from the tribe of Joseph);
12 Ammiel son of Gemalli from the tribe of Dan;
13 Sethur son of Michael from the tribe of Asher;
14 Nahbi son of Vophsi from the tribe of Naphtali;
15 Geuel son of Machi from the tribe of Gad.
16 These were the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua.
17 When Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up this way to the Negev, then go up into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like, and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 Is the land they live in good(E) or bad? Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications?(F) 20 Is the land fertile or unproductive?(G) Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous. Bring back some fruit from the land.” It was the season for the first ripe grapes.(H)
21 So they went up and scouted out the land from the Wilderness of Zin[a] as far as Rehob[b] near the entrance to Hamath.[c] 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak,(I) were living. Hebron was built seven years before Zoan(J) in Egypt. 23 When they came to the Valley of Eshcol,(K) they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which was carried on a pole by two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.(L) 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol[d] because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there. 25 At the end of 40 days(M) they returned from scouting out the land.
Report about Canaan
26 The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land.(N) 27 They reported to Moses: “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey,(O) and here is some of its fruit. 28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified.(P) We also saw the descendants of Anak(Q) there. 29 The Amalekites(R) are living in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb(S) quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”
31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!” 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim[e](T) there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim!(U) To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:21 Southern border of the promised land
- Numbers 13:21 Northern border of the promised land
- Numbers 13:21 Or near Lebo-hamath
- Numbers 13:24 = cluster
- Numbers 13:33 Possibly means fallen ones; traditionally, “giants”; Gn 6:4
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