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Spies Sent to Spy Out the Land of Canaan

13 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “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.” 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] And these are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 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]

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 13:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Numbers 13:2 Literally “one man one man from the tribe of his father”
  3. Numbers 13:3 Literally “heads”
  4. Numbers 13:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  5. Numbers 13:17 An arid region south of the Judean hills
  6. Numbers 13:21 Or “near Hamath”
  7. Numbers 13:22 An arid region south of the Judean hills
  8. Numbers 13:22 Hebrew “and there”
  9. Numbers 13:23 Or “wadi”
  10. Numbers 13:24 Or “wadi”
  11. Numbers 13:24 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  12. Numbers 13:25 Hebrew “day”

Leaders explore the land of Canaan

13 The Lord spoke to Moses: 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. So Moses sent them out from the Paran desert according to the Lord’s command. All the men were leaders among the Israelites. These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, Zaccur’s son;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, Hori’s son;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, Jephunneh’s son;

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal, Joseph’s son;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, Nun’s son;

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 13:22 Heb Zoan
  2. Numbers 13:23 Or cluster of grapes