- And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Send men, that they may search the land of Canaan which I give unto the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them. And Moses, by the commandment of the Lord, sent them from the wilderness of Paran — all those men were heads of the children of Israel. And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua.
- And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Go up this way southward, and go up into the mountain, and see the land — what it is, and the people that dwell therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many. And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad, and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in tents or in strongholds. And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein or not. And be of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land (now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes).
- So they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they ascended by the south and came unto Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai — the children of Anak — were. Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a staff, and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs. The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from there.
- And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh, and brought back word unto them and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him and said, We came unto the land to which you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless, the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled and very great. And moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the banks of Jordan.
- And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have gone to search, it is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, who come of the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
- And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them, Would to God that we had died in the land of Egypt. Or would to God we had died in this wilderness. And why has the Lord brought us unto this land? To fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Would it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt.
- Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes. And they spoke unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed through to search, it is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us, their defense has departed from them, and the Lord is with us; fear them not. But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones.
- And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation, before all the children of Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be before they believe me, for all the signs which I have shown among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a greater nation, and mightier than they.
- And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it — for you brought up this people in your might from among them — and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land; for they have heard that you Lord are among this people, that you Lord are seen face to face, and that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by daytime in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you shall kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore unto them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness. And now I implore you, let the power of my Lord be great according as you have spoken, saying, The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I implore you, the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness of your mercy, and as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.
- And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men who have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me now these ten times, and have not listened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers; neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him and has followed me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went, and his seed shall possess it (now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelled in the valley). Tomorrow, turn and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.
- And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmurs against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, says the Lord, as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you. Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me, doubtless you shall not come into the land concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones — whom you said should be a prey — them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses are wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which you searched the land — even forty days, each day for a year — shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years; and you shall know my opposition. I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
- And the men whom Moses sent to search the land, who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.
- And they rose up early in the morning and went up into the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned. And Moses said, Why now do you transgress the commandment of the Lord? But it shall not prosper. Go not up — for the Lord is not among you — that you be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword because you are turned away from the Lord; therefore, the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop. Nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who dwelled in that hill, and smote them and beat them, even unto Hormah.
- And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When you have come into the land of your habitations which I give unto you, and will make an offering by fire unto the Lord — a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savor unto the Lord, of the herd or of the flock — then shall he that offers his offering unto the Lord bring a grain offering of a tenth part of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of oil. And the fourth part of a hin of wine, for a drink offering, shall you prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice for one lamb. Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a grain offering two tenth parts of flour mingled with the third part of a hin of oil. And for a drink offering, you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, for a sweet savor unto the Lord. And when you prepare a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the Lord, then shall he bring with a bullock a grain offering of three tenth parts of flour mingled with half a hin of oil. And you shall bring for a drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid. According to the number that you shall prepare, so shall you do to every one, according to their number.
- All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whoever is among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord, as you do, so he shall do. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation and also for the stranger that sojourns with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations. As you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourns with you. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When you come into the land to which I bring you, then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a heave offering unto the Lord. You shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for a heave offering. As you do the heave offering of the threshing floor, so shall you heave it: of the first of your dough, you shall give unto the Lord a heave offering, in your generations.
- And if you have erred and not observed all these commandments which the Lord has spoken unto Moses, even all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses and henceforth among your generations, then it shall be if anything is committed by ignorance, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor unto the Lord, with his grain offering and his drink offering according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it is ignorance, and they shall bring their offering (a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord) for their ignorance. And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourns among them, seeing all the people were in ignorance.
- And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she-goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sins ignorantly, when he sins by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. You shall have one law for him that sins through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel and for the stranger that sojourns among them. But the soul that does anything presumptuously, whether he be born in the land or a stranger, the same reproaches the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
- And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in custody, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Chapter 8