Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The thirsting soul satisfied in God.

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

13 ¹ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ² Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among them.

¹⁷ And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way ^[a]by the South, and go up into the hill-country: ¹⁸ and see the land, what it is; and the people that 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 fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring 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 unto Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. ²² And they went up by the South, and came unto Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ And they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it upon a staff between two; they brought also of the pomegranates, and of the figs. ²⁴ That place was called the valley of ^[b]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

²⁵ And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. ²⁶ And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us; and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. ²⁸ Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. ²⁹ Amalek dwelleth in the land of the South: and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the hill-country; and the Canaanite dwelleth by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan.

³⁰ And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. ³¹ But the men that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. ³² And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ And there we saw the ^[c]Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

14 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. ² And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ And wherefore doth Jehovah bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

⁴ And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. ⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. ⁶ And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes: ⁷ and they spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. ⁸ If Jehovah delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it unto us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. ⁹ Only rebel not against Jehovah, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their ^[d]defence is removed from over them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not.

²² And while they ^[a]abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be ^[b]delivered up into the hands of men; ²³ and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised up. And they were exceeding sorry.

²⁴ And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the ^[c]half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the ^[d]half-shekel? ²⁵ He saith, Yea. And when he came into the house, Jesus spake first to him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive toll or tribute? from their sons, or from strangers? ²⁶ And when he said, From strangers, Jesus said unto him, Therefore the sons are free. ²⁷ But, lest we cause them to stumble, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a ^[e]shekel: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.