Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A psalm of David when he was in the Desert of Judah.

Twelve Men Check Out the Land of Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Send some men to check out the land of Canaan. I am giving it to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of Israel’s tribes.”

¹⁷ Moses sent the 12 men to check out Canaan. He said, “Go up through the Negev Desert. Go on into the central hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like. See whether the people who live there are strong or weak. See whether they are few or many. ¹⁹ What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Do the towns have high walls around them or not? ²⁰ How is the soil? Is it rich land or poor land? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” It was the season for the first ripe grapes.

²¹ So the men went up and checked out the land. They went from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob. It was in the direction of Lebo Hamath. ²² They went up through the Negev Desert and came to Hebron. That’s where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai lived. They belonged to the family line of Anak. Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan. Zoan was a city in Egypt. ²³ The men came to the Valley of Eshkol. There they cut off a branch that had a single bunch of grapes on it. Two of them carried it on a pole between them. They carried some pomegranates and figs along with it. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshkol. That’s because the men of Israel cut off a bunch of grapes there. ²⁵ At the end of 40 days, the men returned from checking out the land.

The Men Report on What They Found

²⁶ The men came back to Moses, Aaron and the whole community of Israel. The people were at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There the men reported to Moses and Aaron and all the people. They showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They gave Moses their report. They said, “We went into the land you sent us to. It really does have plenty of milk and honey! Here’s some fruit from the land. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful. Their cities have high walls around them and are very large. We even saw members of the family line of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev Desert. The Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the central hill country. The Canaanites live near the Mediterranean Sea. They also live along the Jordan River.”

³⁰ Then Caleb interrupted the men speaking to Moses. He said, “We should go up and take the land. We can certainly do it.”

³¹ But the men who had gone up with him spoke. They said, “We can’t attack those people. They are stronger than we are.” ³² The men spread a bad report about the land among the Israelites. They said, “The land we checked out destroys those who live in it. All the people we saw there are very big and tall. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes. And that’s also how we seemed to them.” The family line of Anak came from the Nephilim.

The People Refuse to Obey the Lord

14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices. They wept out loud. ² The Israelites spoke against Moses and Aaron. The whole community said to them, “We wish we had died in Egypt or even in this desert. ³ Why is the Lord bringing us to this land? We’re going to be killed by swords. Our enemies will capture our wives and children. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ They said to one another, “We should choose another leader. We should go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They did it in front of the whole community of Israel gathered there. ⁶ Joshua, the son of Nun, tore his clothes. So did Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. Joshua and Caleb were two of the men who had checked out the land. ⁷ They spoke to the whole community of Israel. They said, “We passed through the land and checked it out. It’s very good. ⁸ If the Lord is pleased with us, he’ll lead us into that land. It’s a land that has plenty of milk and honey. He’ll give it to us. ⁹ But don’t refuse to obey him. And don’t be afraid of the people of the land. We will swallow them up. The Lord is with us. So nothing can save them. Don’t be afraid of them.”

Jesus Speaks a Second Time About His Coming Death

²² They came together in Galilee. Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be handed over to men. ²³ They will kill him. On the third day he will rise from the dead.” Then the disciples were filled with deep sadness.

Jesus Pays the Temple Tax

²⁴ Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum. There the people who collect the temple tax came to Peter. They asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵ “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke first. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “Who do the kings of the earth collect taxes and fees from? Do they collect them from their own children or from others?”

²⁶ “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children don’t have to pay,” Jesus said to him. ²⁷ “But we don’t want to make them angry. So go to the lake and throw out your fishing line. Take the first fish you catch. Open its mouth. There you will find the exact coin you need. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”