23. “This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes.
24. They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it.
25. They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, ‘The land the lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’
26. “But you rebelled against the command of the lord your God and refused to go in.
27. You complained in your tents and said, ‘The lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered.
28. Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’
29. “But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them!
30. The lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt.
31. And you saw how the lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’