Happy is the person who doesn’t listen to the wicked.

He doesn’t go where sinners go.

He doesn’t do what bad people do.

He loves the Lord’s teachings.

He thinks about those teachings day and night.

He is strong, like a tree planted by a river.

It produces fruit in season. Its leaves don’t die.

Everything he does will succeed.

That night all the people in the camp began crying loudly. All the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. All the people said to them, “We should have died in Egypt. Or we should have died in the desert. Why is the Lord bringing us to this land? We will be killed with swords. Our wives and children will be taken away. We would be better off going back to Egypt.” They said to each other, “Let’s get a leader and go back to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron bowed facedown in front of all the Israelites gathered there.

Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among those who had explored the land. They tore their clothes. They said to all of the Israelites, “The land we went to explore is very good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land. He will give us that land where much food grows. Don’t turn against the Lord! Don’t be afraid of the people in that land! We will chew them up. They have no protection, but we have the Lord. So don’t be afraid of them.” Then all the people talked about killing them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the Meeting Tent to the Israelites.

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people ignore me? How long will it be before they believe me? I have done miracles among them. I will give them a terrible sickness. I will destroy them. But I will make you into a great nation. It will be stronger than they are.” Then Moses said to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear about it! You brought these people from there by your great power. And the Egyptians will tell this to those who live in this land. They have already heard about you, Lord. They know that you are with your people. And they know you were seen face to face. They know your cloud stays over your people. They know you lead your people with that cloud during the day and with fire at night.

The nations have heard about your power. If you put to death your people all at once, the nations will talk. They will say, ‘The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he promised them. So he killed them in the desert.’ “So show your strength now, my Lord. Do what you said. You said: ‘The Lord doesn’t become angry quickly. The Lord has great love. The Lord forgives sin and law breaking. He has great mercy. But the Lord does not forget to punish guilty people. When parents sin, he will also punish their children. He will punish their grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.’ Show your great love. Forgive these people’s sin. Forgive them as you have from the time they left Egypt until now.” The Lord answered, “I have forgiven them as you asked.

“The Holy Tent where God spoke to our fathers was with the Jews in the desert. God told Moses how to make this Tent. He made it like the plan God showed him. Later, Joshua led our fathers to capture the lands of the other nations. Our people went in, and God drove the other people out. When our people went into this new land, they took with them this same Tent. They received this Tent from their fathers and kept it until the time of David.

God was very pleased with David. He asked God to let him build a house for him, the God of Jacob. But Solomon was the one who built the Temple.“But the Most High does not live in houses that men build with their hands. This is what the prophet says: ‘Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. So do you think you can build a house for me? says the Lord. There is no place where I need to rest. Remember, I made all these things!’”

These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the new name Joshua.) Moses sent them to explore Canaan. He said, “Go through southern Canaan and then into the mountains. See what the land looks like. Are the people who live there strong or weak? Are there a few or many? What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What about the towns they live in—do they have walls, or are they open like camps? What about the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees there? Try to bring back some of the fruit from that land.” (It was the season for the first grapes.)

So they went up and explored the land. They went from the Desert of Zin all the way to Rehob by Lebo Hamath. They went through the southern area to Hebron. That is where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai lived. They were the descendants of Anak. (The city of Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) In the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch of a grapevine. It had one bunch of grapes on it. They carried that branch on a pole between two of them. They also got some pomegranates and figs. They call that place the Valley of Eshcol. That is because the Israelites cut off the bunch of grapes there. After 40 days of exploring the land, the men returned to the camp.