And the people set out from Hazeroth, and they pitched their tents in the desert of Paran
And there, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying
“Send men, who may examine the land of Canaan, which I will give to the sons of Israel, one from the rulers of each tribe.
Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending, from the desert of Paran, leading men, whose names are these
from the tribe of Ruben, Shammua the son of Zaccur
from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh
from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph
from the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea the son of Nun
from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu
from the tribe of Zebulon, Gaddiel the son of Sodi
from the tribe of Joseph, of the scepter of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi
from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli
from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael
from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi
from the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi
These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to examine the land. And he called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua
And so, Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan, and he said to them: “Ascend by the south side. And when you arrive at the mountains
consider the land, as to what kind it may be, and the people, who are its inhabitants, whether they may be strong or weak, whether they may be few in number or many
and the land itself, whether it is good or bad, what kind of cities, walled or without walls
the soil, rich or barren, forested or without trees. Be strong, and bring us some of the fruits of the land.” Now it was the time when the first ripe grapes were ready to be eaten
And when they had ascended, they explored the land from the desert of Sin, all the way to Rehob, as one enters into Hamath
And they ascended by the south side. And they arrived at Hebron, where there were Ahiman and Shishai and Talmai, the sons of Anak. For Hebron was founded seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt
And continuing on as far as the Torrent of the Cluster of Grapes, they cut off a vine with its grapes, which two men carried on a board. Likewise, they took from the pomegranates and the figs of that place
which was called Nehel Eshcol, that is, the Torrent of the Cluster of Grapes, because the sons of Israel had carried a cluster of grapes from there
And those exploring the land returned after forty days, having circulated through the entire region
And they went to Moses and Aaron, and to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel in the desert of Paran, which is in Kadesh. And speaking to them, and to the entire multitude, they showed them the fruits of the land
And they explained, saying: “We went into the land, to which you sent us, which, it is true, flows with milk and honey, as one can know by these fruits
But it has very strong occupants, and the cities are great and also walled. We saw the race of Anak there
Amalek lives in the south. The Hethite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the mountains. And truly, the Canaanite stays near the sea and around the streams of the Jordan.
During these events, Caleb, to restrain the murmuring of the people who rose up against Moses, said, “Let us ascend and possess the land, for we will be able to obtain it.
Yet truly, the others, who had been with him, were saying, “By no means are we able to ascend to this people, because they are stronger than we are.
And before the sons of Israel they disparaged the land, which they had inspected, saying: “The land, which we viewed, devours its inhabitants. The people, upon whom we gazed, were of lofty stature
There, we saw some monsters among the sons of Anak, of the race of giants; by comparison with them, we seemed like locusts.