English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
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God spoke to Moses:
2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them."
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"Send men to scout out the country of Canaan that I am giving to the People of Israel. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a tried-and-true leader in the tribe."
3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel.
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So Moses sent them off from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of God. All of them were leaders in Israel, one from each tribe.
4 And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;
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These were their names: from Reuben: Shammua son of Zaccur
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;
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from Simeon: Shaphat son of Hori
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
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from Judah: Caleb son of Jephunneh
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;
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from Issachar: Igal son of Joseph
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;
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from Ephraim: Hoshea son of Nun
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;
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from Benjamin: Palti son of Raphu
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;
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from Zebulun: Gaddiel son of Sodi
11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi;
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from Manasseh (a Joseph tribe): Gaddi son of Susi
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;
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from Dan: Ammiel son of Gemalli
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;
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from Asher: Sethur son of Michael
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;
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from Naphtali: Nahbi son of Vophsi
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
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from Gad: Geuel son of Maki
16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
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These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land. Moses gave Hoshea (Salvation) son of Nun a new name - Joshua (God-Saves).
17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, "Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country,
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When Moses sent them off to scout out Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and then into the hill country.
18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many,
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Look the land over, see what it is like. Assess the people: Are they strong or weak? Are there few or many?
19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds,
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Observe the land: Is it pleasant or harsh? Describe the towns where they live: Are they open camps or fortified with walls?
20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
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And the soil: Is it fertile or barren? Are there forests? And try to bring back a sample of the produce that grows there - this is the season for the first ripe grapes."
21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.
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With that they were on their way. They scouted out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob toward Lebo Hamath.
22 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
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Their route went through the Negev Desert to the town of Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, descendants of the giant Anak, lived there. Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs.
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When they arrived at the Eshcol Valley they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes - it took two men to carry it - slung on a pole. They also picked some pomegranates and figs.
24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.
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They named the place Eshcol Valley (Grape-Cluster-Valley) because of the huge cluster of grapes they had cut down there.
25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.
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After forty days of scouting out the land, they returned home.
26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
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They presented themselves before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the People of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
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Then they told the story of their trip:
28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
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The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan."
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Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan."
30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."
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Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, "Let's go up and take the land - now. We can do it."
31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are."
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But the others said, "We can't attack those people; they're way stronger than we are."
32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
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They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, "We scouted out the land from one end to the other - it's a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge.
33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."
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Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.