New Living Translation

English Standard Version

1The LORD now said to Moses,

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2“Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.”

2“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”

3So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.

3So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel.

4These were the tribes and the names of their leaders: Tribe Leader Reuben Shammua son of Zaccur

4And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

5Simeon Shaphat son of Hori

5from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

6Judah Caleb son of Jephunneh

6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

7Issachar Igal son of Joseph

7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

8Ephraim Hoshea son of Nun

8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;

9Benjamin Palti son of Raphu

9from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

10Zebulun Gaddiel son of Sodi

10from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

11Manasseh son of Joseph Gaddi son of Susi

11from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi;

12Dan Ammiel son of Gemalli

12from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

13Asher Sethur son of Michael

13from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

14Naphtali Nahbi son of Vophsi

14from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

15Gad Geuel son of Maki

15from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)

16These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

17Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country.

17Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country,

18See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many.

18and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many,

19See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps?

19and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds,

20Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)

20and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

21So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.

21So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.

22Going north, they passed through the Negev and arrived at Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai—all descendants of Anak—lived. (The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian city of Zoan.)

22They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

23When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs.

23And they 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.

24That place was called the valley of Eshcol (which means “cluster”), because of the cluster of grapes the Israelite men cut there. The Scouting Report

24That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

25After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned

25At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.

26to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land.

26And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

27This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces.

27And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

28But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!

28However, 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.

29The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.”

29The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

30But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

30But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

31But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!”

31Then 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.”

32So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge.

32So they 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 all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

33We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

33And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.