1 ARST Yahweh said to Moses, BSB BSB: And the LORD said to Moses,
2 ARST “Send some men to Canaan to explore it. That is the land that I will give to you Israelites. Send men who are leaders in their tribes.” BSB BSB: “Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.”
3 ARST So Moses did what Yahweh commanded him. He sent out twelve Israelite men who were all leaders of their tribes. He sent them from their camp at Paran in the desert. BSB BSB: So at the command of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites,
4 ARST These are the names of the men and the tribes they belonged to: Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben; BSB BSB: and these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;
5 ARST Shaphat son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 ARST Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
7 ARST Igal son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 ARST Hoshea the son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
9 ARST Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 ARST Gaddiel son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 ARST Gaddi son of Susi, from the tribe of Joseph’ s descendent Manasseh; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
12 ARST Ammiel the son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 ARST Sethur son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 ARST Nahbi son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali; BSB BSB: from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 ARST and Geuel son of Maki, from the tribe of Gad. BSB BSB: and from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.
16 ARST Those are the names of the men whom Moses sent out to explore Canaan. Before they left, Moses gave Hoshea a new name, Joshua, which means‘Yahweh is the one who saves.’ BSB BSB: These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.
17 ARST Before Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said to them,“Go through the southern Judean wilderness, and then go north into the hill country. BSB BSB: When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country.
18 ARST See what the land is like. See if the people who live there are strong or weak. See if there are many people or only a few people. BSB BSB: See what the land is like and whether its people are strong or weak, few or many.
19 ARST Find out what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Find out about the towns in which they live. Do they have walls around them or not? BSB BSB: Is the land where they live good or bad? Are the cities where they dwell open camps or fortifications?
20 ARST Find out about the soil. Is it fertile or not? Find out if there are trees there. Try to bring back some of the fruit that grows in that land.” He said that because it was the beginning of the time to harvest grapes. BSB BSB: Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
21 ARST So those men went to Canaan. They went through the entire land, from the wilderness of Zin in the south all the way to the city of Rehob near Lebo Hamath in the north. BSB BSB: So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
22 ARST In the southern Judean wilderness, they went to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, huge men descended from Anak, lived. Hebron was a city that was built seven years before the city of Zoan was built in Egypt. BSB BSB: They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
23 ARST In one valley, they cut from a grapevine one cluster of grapes. Because it was very large, they needed two men to carry it on a pole. They also picked some pomegranates and some figs to carry back to their camp. BSB BSB: When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.
24 ARST They called that place Eshcol which means‘cluster’ because they had cut that huge cluster of grapes there. BSB BSB: Because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there, that place was called the Valley of Eshcol.
25 ARST After they explored the land for forty days, they returned to their camp. BSB BSB: After forty days the men returned from spying out the land,
27 ARST But this is what they reported to Moses:“We arrived in the land that you sent us to explore. It is truly a beautiful land. It is a very fertile land. Here is some of the fruit. BSB BSB: And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit!
28 ARST But the people who live there are very strong. Their cities are large and are surrounded by walls. We even saw some of the huge descendants of Anak there. BSB BSB: Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 ARST The descendants of Amalek live in the southern part of the land, and the descendants of Heth, Jebus, and Amor live in the hill country to the north. The descendants of Canaan live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River.” BSB BSB: The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 ARST Caleb told the people who were standing near Moses to be quiet. Then he said,“We should go there and take the land, because we are certainly able to conquer it!” BSB BSB: Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!”
31 ARST But the men who had gone with him said,“No, we cannot attack and defeat those people. They are much stronger than we are!” BSB BSB: But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
32 ARST So those men gave to the Israelite people a bad report about the land that they had explored. They said,“The land that we explored destroys the life those who try to attack it. And all the people living there are very tall. BSB BSB: So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.
33 ARST We also saw giants there. They are the descendants of Anak(who come from the Nephilim, those giant people). When we saw these giants we felt as small as grasshoppers and they thought that we looked like grasshoppers too.” BSB BSB: We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.