The Spies Explore Canaan
(Deuteronomy 1:19–25)

1And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Send men, and they shall spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel. One man—you⁺ shall send one man for the tribe of their fathers, each one a leader among them.”

3And Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the mouth of YHWH; all the men were heads of the sons of Israel. 4And these were their names:

From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur.

5From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori.

6From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.

7From the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph.

8From the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun.

9From the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the Negev, and go up to the mountain. 18And see the land, how it is, and the people dwelling in it, is he strong or weak, is he few or many; 19and how is the land in which he is dwelling, is it good or bad; and how are the cities in which he is dwelling, in camps or in fortifications; 20and how is the land, is it fat or lean, is there wood in it or not. And be of good courage, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” (And the time was the season of the firstfruits of grapes.)

21And they went up and spied out the land, from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at the going in to Hamath. 22And they went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, and there were Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai—those born of Anak. And Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.

23And they came to the Valley of Eshcol,† and there they cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; and they also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, on account of the cluster that the men of Israel cut down there.

The Reports of the Spies

25And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. 26And they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. And to all the congregation they brought back to them word and showed them the fruit of the land.

27And they recounted to him and said, “We went to the land where you sent us, and truly it is flowing with milk and honey; and this is its fruit! 28Nevertheless indeed the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, and very large. And moreover, we saw those born of of Anak there. 29The Amalekite dwell in the land of the Negev; and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

30And Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us surely go up and take possession of it; for we can certainly prevail in it.”

31And the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people; for it is stronger than we.”

32And they gave a bad report of the land that they had spied out unto the sons of Israel, saying, “The land that we have gone into as spies is a land that devours its dwellers, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak from the Nephilim! And we were in our own sight like grasshoppers; and so we were in their eyes.”