156-157 : The Israelites Prepare To Enter Canaan
THE Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Paran saying:''Send out men to look over the land of Canaan, which I have promised to Israel. Send a man each one to be a people."
Moses chose twelve men, one from each of the tribes of Israel.
He sent them to spy out the land of Canaan,
saying to them: "Go up into the mountains and look over the land.
See what it is like, whether the people who dwell there are strong or weak, few or many.
See what the land itself is like that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad.
See what their cities are like, whether they live in tents or in strong buildings.
See whether the land is rich or poor, whether it has wood or not,
and bring back some of the fruit of the land."
Now it was the time for the first ripe grapes .
So the men went out and searched the land.
They came to a brook, and there they cut down a branch with a cluster of grapes on it.
They carried it between them slung on a staff and they brought also some pomegranates and figs.
They gave the place the name of Eshcol,
meaning "a cluster ofgrapes", because of the grapes they had cut down there.
They searched through the land for forty days.
Then they returned to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel,
and brought word to them and showed them the fruit of the land.
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