Numbers 13:10-31

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

¹¹Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph).

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

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

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

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

¹⁶These were the names of the men that Moses sent to explore the country. Moses called Hoshea Joshua.

¹⁷Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, telling them, “Go through the Negev and on into the hill country.

¹⁸See what the place looks like, and find out about the people living there—are they strong or weak? Are there many of them or only a few?

¹⁹Is the land where they're living good or bad? Are their towns like open camps, or do they have defensive walls?

²⁰Is the soil productive or not? Is it forested? Be brave, and bring back some of the country's fruit.” (It was the beginning of the grape harvest.)

²¹So the men went and explored the land all the way from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, bear Lebo-hamath.

²²They went through the Negev and arrived in Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. This town was built seven years before the Egyptian town of Zoan.

²³When they arrived at the Valley of Eshcol they chopped down a branch that had just one bunch of grapes. They had to carry it on a pole held between two men. They also collected some pomegranates and figs.

²⁴(The place was named the Valley of Eshcol because of the bunch of grapes they took from there.)

²⁵Forty days later the men returned from exploring the country.

²⁶They went to see Moses and Aaron, and all the Israelites gathered there at their camp in Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. They gave a report before everyone and showed them the fruit they had brought back from the country.

²⁷This is the report they gave to Moses: “We went and explored the country you sent us to, and it is definitely very productive, as if it was flowing with milk and honey. Just look at some of its fruit!

²⁸But the people living there are strong, and their towns are big and have defensive walls. We also saw some descendants of Anak there.

²⁹The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live on the sea coast and also beside the Jordan.”

³⁰Then Caleb asked for quiet as the people stood before Moses and told them, “Let's go and take over the land. We can conquer the country, no doubt about it!”

³¹But the men who had gone with him disagreed. “We can't go and fight these people! They're much stronger than us!”