Numbers 13:21-14:7

English Standard Version

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land ^(A)from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, ^(B)near Lebo-hamath. ²² They went up into ^(C)the Negeb and came to ^(D)Hebron. ^(E)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ^(F)descendants of Anak, were there. (^(G)Hebron was built seven years before ^(H)Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ And ^(I)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 ^(J)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 ^(K)flows with milk and honey, ^(L)and this is its fruit. ^28 (M)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 (N)The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. ^(O)And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

³⁰ But ^(P)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 (Q)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 ^(R)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 ^(S)all the people that we saw in it are of great height. ³³ And there we saw the ^(T)Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the ^(U)Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves ^(V)like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people ^(W)wept that night. ² And all the people of Israel ^(X)grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or ^(Y)would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? ^(Z)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, ^(AA)“Let us choose a leader and ^(AB)go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then ^(AC)Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. ^6 (AD)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, ^(AE)“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.