Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. Send one man from each tribe of their fathers, every one a ruler among them."

Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. He chose twelve men: Shammua from Reuben, son of Zaccur; Shaphat from Simeon, son of Hori; Caleb from Judah, son of Jephunneh; Igal from Issachar, son of Joseph; Hoshea from Ephraim, son of Nun; Palti from Benjamin, son of Raphu; Gaddiel from Zebulun, son of Sodi; Gaddi from Manasseh, son of Susi; Ammiel from Dan, son of Gemalli; Sethur from Asher, son of Michael; Nahbi from Naphtali, son of Vophsi; and Geuel from Gad, son of Machi.

Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. These men were sent to spy out the land: "Go up by the South and into the hill country," Moses instructed them. "See the land, what it is, and the people who dwell there. Are they strong or weak? Few or many? What is the land like that they inhabit? Is it good or bad? What cities do they dwell in – are they in camps or fortified strongholds?"

Moses also told them to observe the land's fertility, its barrenness, and if there were trees growing there. "Be strong and courageous," he said. "Bring back some of its produce now that the first grapes are ripe." The men went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, reaching as far as Hamath.

They ascended by the south and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. They came to the brook of Eshcol, cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes, and carried it between two on a staff; they also brought pomegranates and figs.

The place was called the brook Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes that the children of Israel had cut down from there. The men returned from their forty-day search of the land and came to Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, bringing back word to them.

They told him and said, "We came to the land where you sent us, and it flows with milk and honey; here is its fruit. The people dwelling in the land are strong and fortified, with great cities, and we saw the descendants of Anak there." They listed the inhabitants: the Amalekites lived in the land of the south; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites inhabited the mountains; while the Canaanites resided by the sea and along the coast of Jordan.

Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, "Let us go up at once and take possession of it. We are fully capable of overcoming it." But the men who went up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people; they are stronger than we."

They brought up an evil report about the land, saying it consumes its inhabitants and all the people we saw there were men of extraordinary stature. The men also spoke about seeing giants – the sons of Anak – who were descendants of the giants. In their own eyes, they felt like grasshoppers, just as those mighty men must have seen them.