“Do not defile the land where you are, for bloodshed defiles the land, and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

Is the land fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous. Bring back some fruit from the land.” It was the season for the first ripe grapes.

So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.

and said to the entire Israelite community: “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land.

If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us.

So the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and who returned and incited the entire community to complain about him by spreading a negative report about the land—

he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. Balak said to him: “Look, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the surface of the land and are living right across from me.