26 Bible Verses about Spying

[The] wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to kill him.

And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed concerning them, and he said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!"

But Joseph said to them, "It [is] what I said to you--you [are] spies.

Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, but you will be kept in prison so that your words might be tested [to see] if [there is] truth with you. And if not, by the life of Pharaoh surely you [are] spies."

We all are sons of one man. We [are] honest [men]. We, your servants, are not spies."

But we said to him, 'We [are] honest; we are not spies.

"The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and treated us as [if we were] spying out the land.

And bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you [are] not spies but you [are] honest. And I will give your brother [back] to you, and you will trade in the land.'"

"Send for yourself men, and let them explore the land of Canaan, which I [am about] to give to the {Israelites}; {from each tribe of his father send one man}, everyone a leader among them."

As for the men whom Moses sent to explore the land, who returned and made the community grumble against him by spreading a report over the land,

This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

{I was forty years old} when Moses Yahweh's servant sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I returned {with an honest report}.

Moses sent to explore Jaazer; they captured {its environs} and dispossessed the Amorites who [were] there.

Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men from Acacia Grove [as] spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name [was] Rahab, and {spent the night} there. The king of Jericho was told, "Look, [some] men from the {Israelites} have come here tonight to search out the land." And the king of Jericho sent [for] Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who came to you, the ones who have entered your house, for they have come to search out the whole land."

Then Joshua said to the two men who spied on the land, "Go [to] the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, just as you swore to her."

But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute {and her family} and all who [were] with her, and she has lived in the midst of Israel until this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, [because she] welcomed the spies in peace.

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho [to] Ai, which [is] near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and he said to them, "Go up and spy out Ai." And the men went up and spied out Ai.

The descendants of Dan sent from the whole number of their clan five {capable men} from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, "Go, explore the land." And they went to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they spent the night there.

David sent spies, and he learned that Saul had come {for certain}.

You know that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you. He came to learn about your going out and coming [in] and to know all which you [are] doing."

But the commanders of the {Ammonites} said to Hanun their master, "{In your opinion}, [is] David honoring your father because he has sent condolences to you? [Is] it not in order to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it [that] David sent his servants to you?"

But the princes of the {Ammonites} said to Hanun, "{Do you think} because David sent comforters to you [that] David honors your father? Is it not for the purpose of exploring [so as] to overthrow and spy out the land that his servants have come to you?"

Then Absalom sent scouts throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "When you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall shout 'Absalom has become king in Hebron!'"

And they watched [him] closely [and] sent spies who pretended they were upright, in order that they could catch him in a statement, so that they could hand him over to the authority and the jurisdiction of the governor.

Now [this was] because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might enslave us,