Numbers 13 - Prayer Tents

Twelve Scouts Explore Canaan

13The LORD now said to Moses,H3068H1696H4872H559 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."H7971H582H8446H776H3667H5414H1121H3478H376H4294H1H7971H259H5387 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.H4872H6310H3068H7971H4057H6290H582H1992H7218H1121H3478 4These were the tribes and the names of their leaders: Reuben Shammua son of ZaccurH8034H4294H7205H8051H1121H2139 5Simeon Shaphat son of HoriH4294H8095H8202H1121H2753 6Judah Caleb son of JephunnehH4294H3063H3612H1121H3312 7Issachar Igal son of JosephH4294H3485H3008H1121H3130 8Ephraim Hoshea son of NunH4294H669H1954H1121H5126 9Benjamin Palti son of RaphuH4294H1144H6406H1121H7505 10Zebulun Gaddiel son of SodiH4294H2074H1427H1121H5476 11Manasseh son of Joseph Gaddi son of SusiH4294H3130H4294H4519H1426H1121H5485 12Dan Ammiel son of GemalliH4294H1835H5988H1121H1582 13Asher Sethur son of MichaelH4294H836H5639H1121H4317 14Naphtali Nahbi son of VophsiH4294H5321H5147H1121H2058 15Gad Geuel son of MakiH4294H1410H1345H1121H4352 16These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)H8034H582H4872H7971H8446H776H4872H7121H1954H1121H5126H3091 17Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: "Go north through the Negev into the hill country.H4872H7971H8446H776H3667H559H5927H5045H5927H2022 18See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many.H7200H776H5971H3427H2389H7504H4592H7227 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?H776H3427H2896H7451H5892H3427H2007H4264H4013 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.)H776H8082H7330H3426H6086H2388H3947H6529H776H3117H3117H1061H6025 21So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.H5927H8446H776H4057H6790H7340H935H2574 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.)H5927H5045H935H2275H289H8344H8526H3211H6061H2275H1129H7651H8141H6440H6814H4714 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.H935H5158H812H3772H2156H259H811H6025H5375H8147H4132H7416H8384 24That place was called the valley of Eshcol (which means "cluster"), because of the cluster of grapes the Israelite men cut there.H4725H7121H5158H812H182H811H1121H3478H3772

The Scouting Report

25After exploring the land for forty days, the men returnedH7725H8446H776H7093H705H3117 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.H3212H935H4872H175H5712H1121H3478H4057H6290H6946H7725H1697H5712H7200H6529H776 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.H5608H559H935H776H7971H2100H2461H1706H6529 28But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!H657H5971H5794H3427H776H5892H1219H3966H1419H7200H3211H6061 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."H6002H3427H776H5045H2850H2983H567H3427H2022H3669H3427H3220H3027H3383 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!"H3612H2013H5971H4872H559H5927H5927H3423H3201H3201 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!"H582H5927H559H3201H5927H5971H2389 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.H3318H1681H776H8446H1121H3478H559H776H5674H8446H776H398H3427H5971H7200H8432H582H4060 33We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that's what they thought, too!"H7200H5303H1121H6061H5303H5869H2284H5869