Mar 16th

“Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.”

So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of Yahweh, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.

These then were their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;

from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;

from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

So Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country.

And see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.

And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications?

And how is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath.

And they had gone up into the Negev and came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men with some of the pomegranates and the figs.

That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

Then they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,

and went and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

Thus they recounted to him and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we are surely able to overcome it.”

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”

So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, which we have passed through to spy out on, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.

And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!

And why is Yahweh bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.

And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;

and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.

If Yahweh is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey.

But as for you, only do not rebel against Yahweh; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection has been removed from them, and Yahweh is with us; do not fear them.”

But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have done in their midst?

I will strike them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

But Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your power You brought up this people from their midst,

and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, for You, O Yahweh, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

Now if You put this people to death as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,

‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

So now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared,

‘Yahweh is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’

Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

So Yahweh said, “I have pardoned them according to your word;

but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of Yahweh.

Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,

shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.

But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his seed shall take possession of it.

Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”

Then they *brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.

And they *crucified Him, and *divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide who should take what.

Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

And the inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

And they *crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left.

[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”]

And those passing by were blaspheming Him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days,

save Yourself by coming down from the cross!”

In the same way, mocking Him to one another, the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.

Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

And when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Look, He is calling for Elijah.”

And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.”

And Jesus, uttering a loud cry, breathed His last.

And the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.

And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

And there were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome,

who, when He was in Galilee, were following Him and serving Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

And when evening had already come, because it was Preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent Council member, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.

And Pilate wondered if He had died by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He already died.

And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

And when Joseph had bought a linen cloth and took Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He had been laid.