THE FOURTH BOOK OF
MOSES,
called
N U M B E R S
Numbers 13 ©
God’s command that twelve spies, of every tribe one, should be sent forth to take a view of the land of Canaan, v. 1, etc. Their names, 4. Their charge and instruction, 15. The performance thereof, 22. Their return and report, together with the exhibition of the fruits of the land, 26. Caleb encourages the people to go and to take possession of the land, 31. But ten of his fellow-spies dissuade it, and dishearten the people, 32.
AND the LORD spake 1unto Moses, saying,
2Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send 3a man, every one a ruler among them.
And Moses by 4the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.
And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, 5Shammua the son of Zaccur.
Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
Of the tribe of Ephraim, 6Oshea the son of Nun.
Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
Of the tribe of Gad, 7Geuel the son of Machi.
These are the names 8of the men which Moses sent 9to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
¶And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way 10southward, and go up into the mountain:
And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;
And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in 11tents, or in strong holds;
And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And 12be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was 13the time of the firstripe grapes.
¶So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of 14Zin unto 15Rehob, as men come to 16Hamath.
And they ascended by the south, and came unto 17Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of 18Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before 19Zoan in Egypt.)
And they came unto 20the brook of 21Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
The place was called the brook Eshcol, 22because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.
And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
¶And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of 23Paran, to 24Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
And they told 25him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely ita floweth 26with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
Nevertheless the people be 27strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of 28Anak there.
The 29Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the 30Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and 31by the coast of Jordan.
And Caleb 32stilled the people 33before Moses, and said, Let us go up 34at once, and possess 35it; for we are 36well able to overcome it.
But the men 37that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that 38eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a 39great stature.
And there we saw 40the giants, the sons of Anak, 41which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.