Numbers 13 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Twelve Scouts Explore Canaan

(Deu 1:19–33 )

Num 13:1The LORD now said to Moses,

Num 13:2“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.”

Num 13:3

Num 13:3So 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.

Num 13:4

Num 13:4These were the tribes and the names of their leaders:

Tribe	Leader
Reuben	Shammua son of Zaccur

Num 13:5

Simeon

Shaphat son of Hori

Num 13:6

Judah

Caleb son of Jephunneh

Num 13:7

Issachar

Igal son of Joseph

Num 13:8

Ephraim

Hoshea son of Nun

Num 13:9

Benjamin

Palti son of Raphu

Num 13:10

Zebulun

Gaddiel son of Sodi

Num 13:11

Manasseh son of Joseph

Gaddi son of Susi

Num 13:12

Dan	Ammiel son of Gemalli

Num 13:13

Asher

Sethur son of Michael

Num 13:14

Naphtali

Nahbi son of Vophsi

Num 13:15

Gad	Geuel son of Maki

Num 13:16

Num 13:16These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)

Num 13:17

Num 13:17Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country.

Num 13:18

Num 13:18See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many.

Num 13:19

Num 13:19See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps?

Num 13:20

Num 13:20Is 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.)

Num 13:21

Num 13:21So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.

Num 13:22

Num 13:22Going 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.)

Num 13:23

Num 13:23When 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.

Num 13:24

Num 13:24That place was called the valley of Eshcol (which means “cluster”), because of the cluster of grapes the Israelite men cut there.

The Scouting Report

Num 13:25

Num 13:25After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned

Num 13:26

Num 13:26to 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.

Num 13:27

Num 13:27This 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.

Num 13:28

Num 13:28But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!

Num 13:29

Num 13:29The 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[fn] and along the Jordan Valley.”

Num 13:30

Num 13:30But 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!”

Num 13:31

Num 13:31But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!”

Num 13:32

Num 13:32So 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.

Num 13:33

Num 13:33We even saw giants[fn] there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(13:29)

Hebrew the sea.

(13:33)

Hebrew nephilim.

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