Read Parshat Shlach Lecha in English

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:

'Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel; of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among them.’’

And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the Lord; all of them men who 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 that 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: “Get you up here into the South, and go up into the mountains;

and see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many;

and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;

and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. And be ye 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 spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, at the entrance to Hamath.

And they went up into the South, and came unto Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. --Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. --

And they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it upon a pole between two; they took also of the pomegranates, and of the figs. --

That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from thence. --

And they returned from spying out the land at the end of 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 whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified, and very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

Amalek dwelleth in the land of the South; and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanite dwelleth by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan.’’

And Caleb stilled the people toward Moses, and said: “We should 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 spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: “The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; 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 that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would we had died in this wilderness!

And wherefore doth the Lord bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey; were 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 spied out the land, rent their clothes.

And they spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.

If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it unto us--a land which floweth with milk and honey.

Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defence is removed from over them, and the Lord is with us; fear them not.’’

But all the congregation bade stone them with stones, when the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel.

And the Lord said unto Moses: “How long will this people despise Me? and how long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them?

I will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.’’

And Moses said unto the Lord: “When the Egyptians shall hear--for Thou broughtest up this people in Thy might from among them--

they will say to the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that Thou Lord art in the midst of this people; inasmuch as Thou Lord art seen face to face, and Thy cloud standeth over them, and Thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night;

now if Thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of Thee will speak, saying:

Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore unto them, therefore He hath slain them in the wilderness.

And now, I pray Thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as Thou hast spoken, saying:

The Lord is slow to anger, and plenteous in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.

Pardon, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of Thy lovingkindness, and according as Thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.’’

And the Lord said: “I have pardoned according to thy word.

But in very deed, as I live--and all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord--

surely all those men that have seen My glory, and My signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to proof these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice;

surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised Me see it.

But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the Vale; tomorrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’’

And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that keep murmuring against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they keep murmuring against Me.

Say unto them: As I live, saith the Lord, surely as ye have spoken in Mine 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, ye that have murmured against Me;

surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

But your little ones, that ye said would be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected.

But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.

And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your strayings, until your carcasses be consumed in the wilderness.

After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know My displeasure.

I the Lord have spoken, surely this will I do 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 spy out the land, and who, when they returned, made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land,

even those men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before the Lord.

But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men that went to spy out the land.

And Moses told these words unto all the children of Israel; and the people mourned greatly.

And they rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying: “Lo, we are here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised; for we have sinned.’’

And Moses said: “Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord, seeing it shall not prosper?

Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten down before your enemies.

For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; forasmuch as ye are turned back from following the Lord, and the Lord will not be with you.’’

But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain; nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

Then the Amalekite and the Canaanite, who dwelt in that hill-country, came down, and smote them and beat them down, even unto Hormah.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye are 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 fulfilment of a vow clearly uttered, or as a freewill-offering, or in your appointed seasons, to make a sweet savour unto the Lord, of the herd, or of the flock;

then shall he that bringeth his offering present unto the Lord a meal-offering of a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of oil;

and wine for the drink-offering, the fourth part of a hin, shalt thou prepare with the burnt-offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meal-offering two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with the third part of a hin of oil;

and for the drink-offering thou shalt present the third part of a hin of wine, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt-offering, or for a sacrifice, in fulfilment of a vow clearly uttered, or for peace-offerings unto the Lord;

then shall there be presented with the bullock a meal-offering of three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with half a hin of oil.

And thou shalt present for the drink-offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

Thus shall it be done for each bullock, or for each ram, or for each of the he-lambs, or of the kids.

According to the number that ye may prepare, so shall ye do for every one according to their number.

All that are home-born shall do these things after this manner, in presenting an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever may be among you, throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do.

As for the congregation, there shall be one statute both for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you, a statute for ever throughout your generations; as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.

One law and one ordinance shall be both for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye come into the land whither I bring you,

then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall set apart a portion for a gift unto the Lord.

Of the first of your dough ye shall set apart a cake for a gift; as that which is set apart of the threshing-floor, so shall ye set it apart.

Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord a portion for a gift throughout your generations. {S}

And when ye shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses,

even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations;

then it shall be, if it be done in error by the congregation, it being hid from their eyes, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt-offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord--with the meal-offering thereof, and the drink-offering thereof, according to the ordinance--and one he-goat for a sin-offering.

And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin-offering before the Lord, for their error.

And all the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; for in respect of all the people it was done in error. {S}

And if one person sin through error, then he shall offer a she-goat of the first year for a sin-offering.

And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that erreth, when he sinneth through error, before the Lord, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven,

both he that is home-born among the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them: ye shall have one law for him that doeth aught in error.

But the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath 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 gathering 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 ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. {S}

And the Lord said unto Moses: “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.’’

And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:

'Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them throughout their generations fringes in the corners of their garments, and that they put with the fringe of each corner a thread of blue.

And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go astray;

that ye may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.’’