Numbers 13:21–14:7

21 So they went up and spied out the land pfrom the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, qnear Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into mthe Negeb and came to rHebron. sAhiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the tdescendants of Anak, were there. (uHebron was built seven years before uZoan in Egypt.) 23 And vthey came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,1 because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at wKadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, We came to the land to which you sent us. It xflows with milk and honey, yand this is its fruit. 28 zHowever, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 aThe Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. bAnd the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.

30 But cCaleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it. 31 dThen the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. 32 So ethey brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and fall the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the gNephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the gNephilim), and we seemed to ourselves hlike grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people iwept that night. And all the people of Israel jgrumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or kwould that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? lOur wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, mLet us choose a leader and ngo back to Egypt.

Then oMoses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. pAnd Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, qThe land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.

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2 View All Leviticus 19:27