The Spies
(Deuteronomy 1.19-33)1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Choose one of the leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send them as spies to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.” 3-15 Moses obeyed and from the wilderness of Paran he sent out leaders, as follows:
Tribe LeaderReuben Shammua son of ZaccurSimeon Shaphat son of HoriJudah Caleb son of JephunnehIssachar Igal son of JosephEphraim Hoshea son of NunBenjamin Palti son of RaphuZebulun Gaddiel son of SodiManasseh Gaddi son of SusiDan Ammiel son of GemalliAsher Sethur son of MichaelNaphtali Nahbi son of VophsiGad Geuel son of Machi
16 These are the spies Moses sent to explore the land. He changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua.
17 When Moses sent them out, he said to them, “Go north from here into the southern part of the land of Canaan and then on into the hill country. 18 Find out what kind of country it is, how many people live there, and how strong they are. 19 Find out whether the land is good or bad and whether the people live in open towns or in fortified cities. 20 Find out whether the soil is fertile and whether the land is wooded. And be sure to bring back some of the fruit that grows there.” (It was the season when grapes were beginning to ripen.)
21 So the men went north and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin in the south all the way to Rehob, near Hamath Pass in the north. 22 They went first into the southern part of the land and came to Hebron, where the clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of a race of giants called the Anakim, lived. (Hebron was founded seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They came to Eshcol Valley, and there they cut off a branch which had one bunch of grapes on it so heavy that it took two men to carry it on a pole between them. They also brought back some pomegranates and figs. ( 24 That place was named Eshcol Valley because of the bunch of grapes the Israelites cut off there.)
25 After exploring the land for forty days, the spies returned 26 to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had brought. 27 They told Moses, “We explored the land and found it to be rich and fertile; and here is some of its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there. 29 Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River.”
30 Caleb silenced the people who were complaining against Moses, and said, “We should attack now and take the land; we are strong enough to conquer it.”
31 But the men who had gone with Caleb said, “No, we are not strong enough to attack them; the people there are more powerful than we are.” 32 So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, “That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall, 33 and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them.”
Shodzi mu shango ye Kanana
(Matama 1:19-33)1 Yahwe bakadwa Mushe bakati, 2 “Tola bamwe batungamili mu njudzi dzili gumi lina mbili dze Iziraela ubatume bayende banoshola shango ye Kanana, yandinopa Baiziraela.” 3 Nge ndaulo ya Yahwe Mushe katuma shodzi dzidwa mu tjilambanyika tje Parani. Bose bakabe bali batungamili be Baiziraela. 4 Awa ndiwo mazina abo; kudwa mu ludzi gwa Rubheni ndi Shamua nkololo wa Zakhuri; 5 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Simiyoni ndi Shafati nkololo wa Hori; 6 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Juda ndi Khalebu nkololo wa Jefune; 7 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Isakari ndi Igali nkololo wa Josefa; 8 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Ifureimi ndi Hosheya nkololo wa Nuni; 9 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Bhenjamini ndi Paleti nkololo wa Rafu; 10 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Zebuluni ndi Gadieli nkololo wa Sodi; 11 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Josefa igo gwa Manase ndi Gadi nkololo wa Susi; 12 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Dani ndi Amiyeli nkololo wa Gemali; 13 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Asheri ndi Sethuri nkololo wa Mikaele; 14 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Nafutali ndi Nahibhi nkololo wa Vofisi; 15 kudwa mu ludzi gwa Gadi ndi Geuele nkololo wa Maki. 16 Awa ndiwo mazina e balume bakabe batumwa ndi Mushe kunoshola shango. Mushe katumila Hosheya nkololo wa Nuni zina linoyi Joshuwa.
17 Kwakati Mushe ebatuma kunoshola shango ye Kanana kabadwa kati, “Yendani ku Negebu, mube mutathila mu shango ye matombo. 18 Mubone kuti i shango yakatini, ne kuti bathu bagele muili bakasima kene abazosima, kakale mubone kuti bashomanana kene banjinji. 19 Mubone kuti shango yabagele yakanaka kene yakabipa ne kuti kene mizi yabagele yakabakiligwa kene ayizobakiligwa nge luswingo. 20 Mubone kene i shango ina mavu akakola kene asakakola, ina miti kene isina. Mutjele mimwe mitjelo ye shango iyeyo muyisenge muzhe nayo. Ipapo kwakabe kuli tjibaka tje mitjelo itangisa kubidwa.”
21 Ipapo bakayendila pezhugwi bakashola shango kudwa mu tjilambanyika tje Zini kunoti ku Rehobu, pejo nge nkoba we Hamati. 22 Bakayendila pezhugwi mu Negebu, bakanoswika ku Heburoni; pakabe pegala Ahimani na Sheshayi na Talemayi, zwizekugwana zwa Anakimu. (Heburoni yakabakiwa makole ali kutendeka itangila Zoani ku Egipiti.) 23 Bakaswika ku Nkuku we Eshikholi, bakathubula lutabi gwe nzhambi, bakagusenga bakagupikisana nge bhangwana bali babili, bakazha ne mitjelo ye pomegiranate ne phaya. 24 (Pathu ipapo pakadang'wa Nkuku we Eshikholi ngobe Baiziraela bakathubula lutabi gwe nzhambi po.)
25 Bakashanduka shule kwe mazhuba ali makumi manna (40) bedwa kunoshola shango. 26 Bakaswika kuna Mushe na Aroni ne gubungano lose le Baiziraela mu tjilambanyika tje Parani, ku Kadeshi, bakababikila sekwa bakayenda, bebuya bebalakidza mitjelo ye shango yabazha nayo. 27 Bakadwa Mushe bakati, “Takaswika ku shango yamakatituma ko, malebeswa inowunga nkaka ne butji gwe nyutji! Eyi ndiyo mitjelo yayo. 28 Nenguba kwakajalo bathu bagele mu shango iyeyije bakasima, ne mizi yabo yakabakiligwa nge luswingo kakale mikulu kwazo, kakale takabona zwizekugwana zwa Anakimu ikweno. 29 Baamaleki banogala mu shango ye Negebu; Bahiti ne Bajebusi ne Baamori banogala mu shango ye matombo; Bakanana banogala pejo ne gungwa, mu supho we gwizi gwe Jorodani.”
30 Khalebu kanyaladza bathu mbeli kwa Mushe, kabadwa kati, “Ngatiyendeniko tjinyolotjo tinoitapa, takazwilizanila, towobakulila.” 31 Koga balume bakabe bayenda na Khalebu bakan'dabila beti, “Atingatubule kunogwa ne bathu ibabaje, ngobe bakasima kutipinda.” 32 Ndizo bakabikila Baizaraela mbiko isi iyo ngekwe shango yabakabe banoshola beti, “Shango yatakapalama tiishola, i shango inoja bagali bayo, ne bathu batakabona muili balume bakakulila pezhugwi. 33 Kakale takabona makwelemba ikweno, zwizekugwana zwa Anakimu, tikazwibona tili batukununu se zwipombobushwa, ndiko sekwa takafanila kuzwilinga mubali.”