Numbers 13

The Twelve Spies Named Numbers 13:4–16

⁴Verse 4. These were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. ⁵Verse 5. Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. ⁶Verse 6. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ⁷Verse 7. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. ⁸Verse 8. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. ⁹Verse 9. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

¹⁰Verse 10. Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. ¹¹Verse 11. Of the tribe of Joseph, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. ¹²Verse 12. Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. ¹³Verse 13. Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. ¹⁴Verse 14. Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. ¹⁵Verse 15. Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁶Verse 16. These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

Instructions for the Spies Numbers 13:17–20

¹⁷Verse 17. Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country. ¹⁸Verse 18. See the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; ¹⁹Verse 19. and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; ²⁰Verse 20. and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.

The Spies Explore Canaan Numbers 13:21–25

²¹Verse 21. So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. ²²Verse 22. They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³Verse 23. They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. ²⁴Verse 24. That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there.

²⁵Verse 25. They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

The Report of the Spies Numbers 13:26–29

²⁶Verse 26. They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷Verse 27. They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸Verse 28. However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. ²⁹Verse 29. Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.”

Caleb's Faith vs. Others' Fear Numbers 13:30–33

³⁰Verse 30. Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!” ³¹Verse 31. But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” ³²Verse 32. They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.

³³Verse 33. There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”