Num 13-14 | ESV | STEP | The Lord spoke to Moses , saying ,

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 ^a“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.” 3 So Moses sent them from ^bthe wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. 4 And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 ^cfrom the tribe of Judah, ^dCaleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, ^eHoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called ^fHoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into ^gthe Negeb and go up into ^hthe 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, 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, 20 and whether the land is ⁱrich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. ^jBe of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and spied out the land ^kfrom the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, ^lnear Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into ^mthe Negeb and came to ⁿHebron. ^oAhiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ^pdescendants of Anak, were there. ( ^qHebron was built seven years before ^rZoan in Egypt.) 23 And ^sthey 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. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, ^{▼▼ Eshcol means cluster} because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

Report of the Spies

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at ^uKadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the 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 ^vflows with milk and honey, ^wand this is its fruit. 28 ^xHowever, 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. 29 ^yThe Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. ^zAnd the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

30 But ^aaCaleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 ^abThen 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.” 32 So ^acthey 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 ^adall the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the ^aeNephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the ^afNephilim), and we seemed to ourselves ^aglike grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Numbers 14

The People Rebel

1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people ^ahwept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel ^aigrumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or ^ajwould that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? ^akOur wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, ^al“Let us choose a leader and ^amgo back to Egypt.”

5 Then ^anMoses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 ^aoAnd Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ^ap“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If ^aqthe Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, ^ara land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only ^asdo not rebel against the Lord. And ^atdo not fear the people of the land, for ^authey are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 ^avThen all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But ^awthe glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people ^axdespise me? And how long will they not ^aybelieve in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I ^azwill make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Moses Intercedes for the People

13 But ^baMoses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. ^bbThey have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and ^bcyour cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 ‘It is because the Lord ^bdwas not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ^be‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, ^bfvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Please ^bgpardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just ^bhas you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

God Promises Judgment

20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, ^biaccording to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all ^bjthe earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 ^bknone of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ^blten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 ^bmshall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant ^bnCaleb, because he has a different spirit and has ^bofollowed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 ^bpNow, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, ^bqturn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall ^brthis wicked congregation grumble against me? ^bsI have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ^bt‘As I live, declares the Lord, ^buwhat you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 ^bvyour dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and ^bwof all your number, listed in the census ^bxfrom twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I ^byswore that I would make you dwell, ^bzexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 ^caBut your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that ^cbyou have rejected. 32 But as for you, ^ccyour dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children ^cdshall be shepherds in the wilderness ^ceforty years and shall ^cfsuffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 ^cgAccording to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, ^chforty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35 ^ciI, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all ^cjthis wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

36 ^ckAnd the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— 37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land— ^cldied by plague before the Lord. 38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, ^cmonly Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

Israel Defeated in Battle

39 When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people ^cnmourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, ^co“Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” 41 ^cpBut Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? 42 ^cqDo not go up, ^crfor the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43 For there ^csthe Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” 44 ^ctBut they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither ^cuthe ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. 45 Then ^cvthe Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to ^cwHormah.