27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!j Here is its fruit.k 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.l We even saw descendants of Anakm there.n 29 The Amalekiteso live in the Negev; the Hittites,p Jebusitesq and Amoritesr live in the hill country;s and the Canaanitest live near the sea and along the Jordan.u”

30 Then Calebv silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”w 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad reportx about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devoursy those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.z 33 We saw the Nephilima there (the descendants of Anakb come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppersc in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

The People Rebel

14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.d 2 All the Israelites grumblede against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt!f Or in this wilderness!g 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?h Our wives and childreni will be taken as plunder.j Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?k” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.l”