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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”

13 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, every one a prince among them.”

Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh. All of them were men who were heads of the children of Israel. These were their names:

Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.

Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

11 Of the tribe of Joseph, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.

14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. 17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country. 18 See the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; 19 and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; 20 and what the land is, whether it is fertile or poor, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring 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, to the entrance of Hamath. 22 They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there. 25 They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

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