^23 (A)Then they came to the ^[a]Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ The place was called the Valley of ^[b]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. ²⁵ And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.

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 ^(B)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 ^[c]flows with ^(C)milk and honey, ^(D)and this is its fruit. ²⁸ Nevertheless the ^(E)people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of ^(F)Anak there. ^29 (G)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 ^(H)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 (I)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 ^(J)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 ^(K)all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ There we saw the ^[d]giants (^(L)the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were ^(M)like^[e] grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were ^(N)in their sight.”

A Futile Invasion Attempt^(A)

³⁹ Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, ^(B)and the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, ^(C)“Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned!”

⁴¹ And Moses said, “Now why do you ^[a]transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. ^42 (D)Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. ⁴³ For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; ^(E)because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”

^44 (F)But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as ^(G)Hormah.