Twelve Spies Sent Out

Israel travels from Horeb through the great wilderness to Kadesh-barnea, where Moses tells them they have reached the hill country the LORD is giving them. He urges them to go up without fear.

A¹⁹nd just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea, ²⁰I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. ²¹See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

At the people’s request, twelve men are sent ahead to explore the land. They return from the Valley of Eshcol carrying its fruit and confirming that the land the LORD is giving is good.

²²Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.” ²³The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. ²⁴They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land. ²⁵They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”