16. These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. But Moses gave Hoshea, son of Nun, the name Joshua.
17. When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he told them, “Go through the Negev and then into the mountain region.
18. See what the land is like and whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many.
19. Is the land they live in good or bad? Do their cities have walls around them or not?
20. Is the soil rich or poor? Does the land have trees or not? Do your best to bring back some fruit from the land.” (It was the season when grapes were beginning to ripen.)
21. So the men explored the land from the Desert of Zin to the border of Hamath.
22. They went through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai lived. They are descendants of Anak. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23. When they came to the Eshcol Valley, they cut off a branch with only one bunch of grapes on it. They carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs.
24. So they called that valley Eshcol [Bunch of Grapes] because of the bunch of grapes the Israelites cut off there.
25. Forty days later, they came back from exploring the land.
26. They came back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. They gave their report and showed them the fruit from the land.
27. This is what they reported to Moses: “We went to the land where you sent us. It really is a land flowing with milk and honey. Here’s some of its fruit.