1 Then ADeut 1:22, 23the Loʀᴅ spoke to Moses saying, 2 “ADeut 1:22; 9:23Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the 1Lit mouthcommand of the Loʀᴅ, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. 4 These then 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, ANum 14:6, 30; Josh 14:6Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, ANum 13:16; Deut 32:44Hoshea 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, from 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 ANum 13:8; Deut 32:44Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up 1Lit herethere into AGen 12:9; 13:1, 3the 2I.e. South country, and so throughout the chNegev; then go up into the hill country. 18  “See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. 19  “How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they 1Lit inlike open camps or with fortifications? 20  “ADeut 1:24, 25How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? 1Lit Use your strengthMake an BDeut 31:6, 23effort then 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 ANum 20:1; 27:14; 33:36the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, 1Or to the entrance of HamathBJosh 13:5at Lebo-hamath. 22 When they had gone up into ANum 13:17the Negev, 1Lit Most mss read one camethey came to Hebron where BJosh 15:14Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the 2Lit childrendescendants of CNum 13:28, 33Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before DPs 78:12, 43Zoan in Egypt.)

23 Then they came to the 1Or wadivalley of 2I.e. clusterAGen 14:13; Num 13:24; 32:9; Deut 1:24Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the valley of 1I.e. clusterEshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel 1Lit toin the wilderness of Paran, at ANum 20:1, 14; 32:8Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and AEx 3:8, 17; 13:5it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and BDeut 1:25this is its fruit. 28  “Nevertheless, ADeut 1:28; 9:1, 2the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw BNum 13:33the 1Lit born onesdescendants of Anak there. 29  “Amalek is living in the land of ANum 13:17; 14:25, 45the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and BJosh 10:6the Amorites are living in the hill country, and CNum 14:43, 45the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

30 Then Caleb quieted the people 1Lit towardbefore Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “ADeut 1:28; 9:1-3We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” 32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel ANum 14:36, 37; Ps 106:24a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is BEzek 36:13, 14a land that devours its 1Or settlersinhabitants; and CAmos 2:9all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33  “There also we saw the AGen 6:4Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and BDeut 1:28; 9:2; Josh 11:21we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”