Spies Sent to Canaan

(Deuteronomy 1:19-25)

1And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 2‘Send for thee men, and they spy the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel; one man, one man for the tribe of his fathers ye do send, every one a prince among them.’ 3And Moses sendeth them from the wilderness of Paran by the command of Jehovah; all of them [are] men, heads of the sons of Israel they are, 4and these their names: For the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur. 5For the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori. 6For the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh. 7For the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph. 8For the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea, son of Nun. 9For the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu. 10For the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi. 11For the tribe of Joseph, (for the tribe of Manasseh,) Gaddi son of Susi. 12For the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli. 13For the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael. 14For the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vopshi. 15For the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi. 16These [are] the names of the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land; and Moses calleth Hoshea son of Nun, Jehoshua.

Instructions to the Spies

17And Moses sendeth them to spy the land of Canaan, and saith unto them, ‘Go ye up this [way] into the south, and ye have gone up the mountain, 18and have seen the land what it [is], and the people which is dwelling on it, whether it [is] strong or feeble; whether it [is] few or many; 19and what the land [is] in which it is dwelling, whether it [is] good or bad; and what [are] the cities in which it is dwelling, whether in camps or in fortresses; 20And what the land [is], whether it [is] fat or lean; whether there is wood in it or not; and ye have strengthened yourselves, and have taken of the fruit of the land;’ and the days [are] days of the first-fruits of grapes.

The Spies Explore Canaan

21And they go up and spy the land, from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob at the going in to Hamath; 22and they go up by the south, and come in unto Hebron, and there [are] Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, children of Anak (and Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt),

23and they come in unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down thence a branch and one cluster of grapes, and they bear it on a staff by two, also [some] of the pomegranates, and of the figs. 24That place hath [one] called Brook of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut from thence.

The Reports of the Spies

25And they turn back from spying the land at the end of forty days. 26And they go and come in unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto all the company of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and they bring them and all the company back word, and shew them the fruit of the land. 27And they recount to him, and say, ‘We came in unto the land whither thou hast sent us, and also it [is] flowing with milk and honey — and this [is] its fruit; 28only, surely the people which is dwelling in the land [is] strong; and the cities are fenced, very great; and also children of Anak we have seen there. 29Amalek is dwelling in the land of the south, and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite is dwelling in the hill country, and the Canaanite is dwelling by the sea, and by the side of the Jordan.’

30And Caleb stilleth the people concerning Moses, and saith, ‘Let us certainly go up — and we have possessed it; for we are thoroughly able for it.’ 31And the men who have gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for it [is] stronger than we;’ 32and they bring out an evil account of the land which they have spied unto the sons of Israel, saying, ‘The land into which we passed over to spy it, is a land eating up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in its midst [are] men of stature; 33and there we saw the Nephilim, sons of Anak, of the Nephilim; and we are in our own eyes as grasshoppers; and so we were in their eyes.’