21 So they
went up and explored
the land from the
Desert of Zin as far
as Rehob, toward
Lebo Hamath.
22 They went
up through the Negev
and came to Hebron,
where Ahiman,
Sheshai and Talmai,
the descendants of
Anak, lived. (Hebron
had been built seven
years before Zoan in
Egypt.)
23 When they
reached the Valley
of Eshkol,
they cut off a
branch bearing a
single cluster of
grapes. Two of them
carried it on a pole
between them, along
with some
pomegranates and
figs.
24 That place
was called the
Valley of Eshkol
because of the
cluster of grapes
the Israelites cut
off there.
25 At the end
of forty days they
returned from
exploring the land.
26 They came
back to Moses and
Aaron and the whole
Israelite community
at Kadesh in the
Desert of Paran.
There they reported
to them and to the
whole assembly and
showed them the
fruit of the land.
27 They gave
Moses this account:
“We went into the
land to which you
sent us, and it does
flow with milk and
honey! Here is its
fruit.
28 But the
people who live
there are powerful,
and the cities are
fortified and very
large. We even saw
descendants of Anak
there.
29 The
Amalekites live in
the Negev; the
Hittites, Jebusites
and Amorites live in
the hill country;
and the Canaanites
live near the sea
and along the
Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb
silenced the people
before Moses and
said, “We should go
up and take
possession of the
land, for we can
certainly do it.”
31 But the men
who had gone up with
him said, “We can’t
attack those people;
they are stronger
than we are.”
32 And they
spread among the
Israelites a bad
report about the
land they had
explored. They said,
“The land we
explored devours
those living in it.
All the people we
saw there are of
great size.
33 We saw the
Nephilim there (the
descendants of Anak
come from the
Nephilim). We seemed
like grasshoppers in
our own eyes, and we
looked the same to
them.”