Numbers 13
Common English Bible
Leaders explore the land of Canaan
13 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, which I’m giving to the Israelites. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each a chief among them. 3 So Moses sent them out from the Paran desert according to the Lord’s command. All the men were leaders among the Israelites. 4 These are their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, Zaccur’s son;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, Hori’s son;
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, Jephunneh’s son;
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal, Joseph’s son;
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, Nun’s son;
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, Raphu’s son;
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, Sodi’s son;
11 from the tribe of Joseph:
from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, Susi’s son;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, Gemalli’s son;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur, Michael’s son;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, Vophsi’s son;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel, Machi’s son.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent out to explore the land. Moses changed the name of Hoshea, Nun’s son, to Joshua.
17 When Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the arid southern plain and into the mountains. 18 You must inspect the land. What is it like? Are the people who live in it strong or weak, few or many? 19 Is the land in which they live good or bad? Are the towns in which they live camps or fortresses? 20 Is the land rich or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous and bring back the land’s fruit.” It was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21 They went up and explored the land from the Zin desert to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into the arid southern plain and entered Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of the Anakites, lived. (Hebron was built seven years before Tanis[a] in Egypt.) 23 Then they entered the Cluster[b] ravine, cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and carried it on a pole between them. They also took pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Cluster ravine because of the cluster of grapes that the Israelites cut down from there.
Report about the land of Canaan
25 They returned from exploring the land after forty days. 26 They went directly to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Paran desert at Kadesh. They brought back a report to them and to the entire community and showed them the land’s fruit. 27 Then they gave their report: “We entered the land to which you sent us. It’s actually full of milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 There are, however, powerful people who live in the land. The cities have huge fortifications. And we even saw the descendants of the Anakites there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the arid southern plain; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the mountains; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Now Caleb calmed the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of it, because we are more than able to do it.”
31 But the men who went up with him said, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we.” 32 They started a rumor about the land that they had explored, telling the Israelites, “The land that we crossed over to explore is a land that devours its residents. All the people we saw in it are huge men. 33 We saw there the Nephilim (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We saw ourselves as grasshoppers, and that’s how we appeared to them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:22 Heb Zoan
- Numbers 13:23 Or cluster of grapes
Numbers 13
New King James Version
Spies Sent into Canaan(A)
13 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 (B)“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”
3 So Moses sent them (C)from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4 Now these 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 (D)from the tribe of Judah, (E)Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, [a]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, that is, 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 [b]spy out the land. And Moses called (F)Hoshea[c] the son of Nun, Joshua.
17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to (G)the mountains, 18 and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20 whether the land is [d]rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. (H)Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land (I)from the Wilderness of Zin as far as (J)Rehob, near the entrance of (K)Hamath. 22 And they went up through the South and came to (L)Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of (M)Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 (N)Then they came to the [e]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 [f]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 (O)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 [g]flows with (P)milk and honey, (Q)and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the (R)people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of (S)Anak there. 29 (T)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 (U)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 (V)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 (W)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 (X)all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the [h]giants ((Y)the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were (Z)like[i] grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were (AA)in their sight.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:8 LXX, Vg. Oshea
- Numbers 13:16 secretly search
- Numbers 13:16 LXX, Vg. Oshea
- Numbers 13:20 fertile or barren
- Numbers 13:23 Wadi
- Numbers 13:24 Lit. Cluster
- Numbers 13:27 Has an abundance of food
- Numbers 13:33 Heb. nephilim
- Numbers 13:33 As mere insects
Numbers 13
The Voice
13 The Eternal One spoke to Moses.
There is dissension in the camp. Some of the leaders have been sharing their doubts with the people, and folks are nervous. The thrill of this wilderness camping experience has worn off, and some are thinking that working for the Egyptians wasn’t so bad. So barely two years out of Egypt, the Israelites are standing at the door of their promised land. Moses needs to motivate the people, and he selects 12 key men from each of the tribes to explore the land of abundance God has provided. The nation stands to enter into a time of great reward, but first their leaders must bring back a report that will inspire their confidence.
Eternal One: 2 Send men who can spy out the Canaanite land that I’m giving to the Israelites. Pick one man, with demonstrated leadership, from each of the tribal families.
3 Moses did so. He sent the twelve heads of Israel out from Paran Wilderness camp just as the Eternal told him. 4 These are the men who went and the tribes they represented: Shammua (Zaccur’s son) for Reuben; 5 Shaphat (Hori’s son) for Simeon; 6 Caleb (Jephunneh’s son) for Judah; 7 Igal (Joseph’s son) for Issachar; 8 Hoshea (Nun’s son) for Joseph’s tribe, specifically Ephraim; 9 Palti (Raphu’s son) for Benjamin; 10 Gaddiel (Sodi’s son) for Zebulun; 11 Gaddi (Susi’s son) for Joseph’s tribe, Manasseh; 12 Ammiel (Gemalli’s son) for Dan; 13 Sethur (Michael’s son) for Asher; 14 Nahbi (Vophsi’s son) for Naphtali; 15 and Geuel (Machi’s son) for Gad. 16 These are the names of the men selected to spy out Canaan. And Moses changed the name of Hoshea (son of Nun) to Joshua, who would succeed Moses.
17 Moses sent this group to spy out the land of Canaan.
Moses: Trek through the southland desert of Negev and up into the high country. 18 I want you to tell us about the land and especially about its people—are they strong or weak? Are there a lot of them or only a few? 19-20 Do their cities have fortifications, or are their camps open all around? Also, is the land itself good or bad, its soil rich or poor? Are there any trees? Be bold, and bring back samples of what grows there like their grapes.
It was in midsummer when you’d expect them to find grapes just beginning to ripen.
21 They set out, these men, and explored the land from the flat Zin wilderness, north of Paran where the rest were camped, all the way to Rehob on the coast and Lebo-hamath much farther north. 22 They trekked first into the Negev and up to Hebron, a city built seven years before the Egyptian town of Zoan in the Nile Delta. There, they saw the giant Anakite people, including the clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai; 23-24 and they checked out the lush Eshcol riverbed that, as its name suggests, grew bunches of grapes. So thick and heavy were the clusters that when two of the men cut down one branch holding one cluster, they had to carry it on a pole between them. They also picked up some pomegranates and figs from that place.
25 After 40 days, they returned from exploring 26 to the camp at Kadesh, in the Paran Wilderness, and went directly to Moses and Aaron and all the Israelite congregation, which had gathered to hear what the scouts had learned and to see what fruits they had brought back with them.
Twelve Scouts (to Moses): 27 We checked out the land, just as you’d instructed us to do, and here’s what we discovered: It is rich, very rich. One could say that it flows with milk and honey; and look, here is some of its fruit. The land is highly desirable, 28 but the people who already live there are really strong. Their cities are enormous and fortified. What’s more, we saw the Anakites there. 29 In the Negev, there are Amalekites; and in the high hill country are Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites. As for the seacoast, Canaanites live there and along the Jordan River too.
It is certain the Israelites are deeply discouraged by this report, for what was said about the native inhabitants is most alarming.
30 But Caleb calmed the congregation, and he spoke to Moses.
Caleb: We should go straight in, right away, and take it over. We are surely able!
Other Scouts: 31 No way. We can’t do it. The people who are already there are too strong for us.
32 So the report of these other scouts was quite disheartening; it made the people question God’s promise.
Other Scouts: The land that we surveyed virtually eats its own, and the people themselves are gigantic. 33 We saw the massive Anakites who descended from the ancient Nephilim![a] We look like grasshoppers compared to them, and they know it.
Footnotes
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.