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N U MBERS 1 3
brought back before they traveled again. 16 Then
they left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
Twelve Scouts Explore Canaan
The Lord now said to Moses, 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.” 3 So
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. 4 These
were the tribes and the names of their leaders:
13
Tribe
Leader
Reuben . . . . . . . . . . . Shammua son of Zaccur
5 Simeon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shaphat son of Hori
6 Judah . . . . . . . . . . . . . Caleb son of Jephunneh
7 Issachar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Igal son of Joseph
8 Ephraim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoshea son of Nun
9 Benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Palti son of Raphu
10 Zebulun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gaddiel son of Sodi
11 Manasseh son of Joseph . . .Gaddi son of Susi
12 Dan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ammiel son of Gemalli
13 Asher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sethur son of Michael
14 Naphtali . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nahbi son of Vophsi
15 Gad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geuel son of Maki
16 These
are the names of the men Moses sent
out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea
son of Nun by the name Joshua.)
17 Moses gave the men these instructions as
he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north
through the Negev into the hill country. 18 See
what the land is like, and find out whether the
people living there are strong or weak, few or
• Fear
NU MB E R S 1 3 :2 8 -3 3
The ten scouts’ negative report about
the Promised Land was a case of reality
versus distortion. The reality was that
God had promised that the people would
conquer the land (Exodus 3:8; Leviticus
20:24). The fact that God himself ordered
the scouts into the land should have
given the people great confidence. The
distortion was that the giants seemed
more real and immediate than God’s
promise. Fear distorts our view of reality.
The “giants” in our paths may appear
more powerful than our almighty God,
who promises to deliver us. Sooner or
later we all face fearsome giants in our
lives—an especially great temptation,
guilt, sin, anger, anxiety, depression,
and others. Don’t let the size of the
giant reduce the size of your God!
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many. 19 See what kind of land they live in. Is it
good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are
they unprotected like open camps? 20 Is 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.)
21 So they went up and explored the land from
the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebohamath. 22 Going 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.) 23 When 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. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol
(which means “cluster”), because of the cluster
of grapes the Israelite men cut there.
The Scouting Report
25 After exploring the land for forty days, the
men returned 26 to 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. 27 This 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. 28 But the people
living there are powerful, and their towns are
large and fortified. We even saw giants there,
the descendants of Anak! 29 The 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.”
30 But 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!”
31 But the other men who had explored the
land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up
against them! They are stronger than we are!”
32 So 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. 33 We even saw giants* there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”
The People Rebel
Then the whole community began
weeping aloud, and they cried all night.
2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest
against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died
14
13:29 Hebrew the sea. 13:33 Hebrew nephilim.