Numbers 13
Lexham English Bible
Spies Sent to Spy Out the Land of Canaan
13 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send for yourself men, and let them explore the land of Canaan, which I am about to give to the Israelites;[a] from each tribe of his father send one man,[b] everyone a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the desert of Paran on the command of Yahweh; all of the men were leaders[c] of the Israelites.[d] 4 And these are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki. 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to explore the land. And Moses called Hoshea son of Nun Joshua.
17 Moses sent them to explore the land of Canaan, and he said to them, “Go up like this to the Negev,[e] and go up into the hill country, 18 and you will see what the land is like and if the people who inhabit it are strong or weak, or whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they are inhabiting is good or bad, and whether the cities they are inhabiting are camps or fortifications, 20 and whether the land is fertile or lean, and whether there are trees on it or not. You will show yourself courageous, and you will take some of the fruit of the land.” It was the time of first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and explored the land from the desert of Zin until Rehob, at Lebo Hamath.[f] 22 They went up through the Negev[g] and came to Hebron, where[h] Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai the descendants of the Anakites were. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came up to the valley[i] of Eshcol, and they cut off a vine branch and one cluster of grapes from there; they carried it on a pole between two men, with pomegranates and figs. 24 That place he called the valley[j] of Eshcol on account of the cluster of grapes that the Israelites[k] cut off from there.
The Spies Return
25 They returned from exploring the land at the end of forty days.[l] 26 And they came[m] to Moses and Aaron and to the entire community of the Israelites[n] in the desert of Paran at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him,[o] “We came to the land that you sent us, and it is flowing of milk and honey; this is its fruit. 28 Yet the people who are inhabiting it are strong and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of the Anakites there. 29 The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev;[p] the Hittites, Jebusites, and the Amorites are living in the hill country; and the Canaanites are living at the sea and on the banks of the Jordan.”
30 And Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “Surely, let us go up and let us take possession of it because surely we will be able to prevail over it.” 31 And the men who went up with him said, “We are not able to go up to the people because they are stronger than us.” 32 And they presented the report of the land that they explored to the Israelites,[q] saying, “The land that we went through to explore is a land that eats its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in its midst are men of great size.[r] 33 There we saw the Nephilim (the descendants[s] of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their eyes.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 13:2 Literally “one man one man from the tribe of his father”
- Numbers 13:3 Literally “heads”
- Numbers 13:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 13:17 An arid region south of the Judean hills
- Numbers 13:21 Or “near Hamath”
- Numbers 13:22 An arid region south of the Judean hills
- Numbers 13:22 Hebrew “and there”
- Numbers 13:23 Or “wadi”
- Numbers 13:24 Or “wadi”
- Numbers 13:24 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 13:25 Hebrew “day”
- Numbers 13:26 Hebrew “they went and came”
- Numbers 13:26 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 13:27 Hebrew “they told him and said”
- Numbers 13:29 An arid region south of the Judean hills
- Numbers 13:32 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 13:32 Literally “men of measurements”
- Numbers 13:33 Or “sons”
Numbers 13
Amplified Bible
Spies View the Land
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel. From each of their fathers’ tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent spies from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the Israelites. 4 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 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [that is, Joshua] 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, of 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 Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua (the Lord is salvation).
17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the Negev (the South country); 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 and whether the land in which they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are [open] camps or fortifications, 20 and what the land is, whether it is fat (productive) or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. Make an effort 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 the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob [a town in Lebanon], at Lebo-hamath [in the far north]. 22 When they had gone up into the Negev (the South country), they came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes), and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two of them, with some of pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes) because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down there.
The Spies’ Reports
25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the land’s fruit. 27 They reported to Moses and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does [a]flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 But the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are [b]fortified (walled) and very large; moreover, we saw there the descendants of Anak [people of great stature and courage]. 29 [The people descended from] Amalek live in the land of the Negev (South country); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the [Dead] Sea and along the side of the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession of it; for we will certainly conquer it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are too strong for us.” 32 So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we went, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:27 This phrase referred to the abundant fertility of the land of Canaan. Milk (typically that of goats and sheep) was associated with abundance; “honey” referred mainly to syrups made from dates or grapes and was the epitome of sweetness. Bees’ honey was very rare and was considered the choicest of foods.
- Numbers 13:28 The spies probably had not seen walled cities before, having lived their childhood in Goshen in Egypt. Those who forgot God’s power to help them naturally found the situation formidable.
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