And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

And you came all to me, and said: Let us send men who may view the land, and bring us word what way we shall go up, and to what cities we shall go.

And ye came near to me all of you, and said, We will send men before us, who shall examine the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and of the cities to which we shall come.

And ye came near to me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall explore the land for us, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

And ye come near unto me, all of you, and say, Let us send men before us, and they search for us the land, and they bring us back word concerning the way in which we go up into it, and the cities unto which we come in;

And you came near to me, every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us to go through the land with care and give us an account of the way we are to go and the towns to which we will come.

And you all approached me and said: 'Let us send men who may consider the land, and who may report as to the way by which we ought to ascend, and as to which cities we ought to travel.'

Accessistis autem ad me omnes vos, et dixistis, Mittamus viros ante nos qui explorent nobis terram, et referant nobis rem, et viam per quam ascendamus, et urbes ad quas veniamus.

The plan of sending the spies originated with the people; and, as in itself a reasonable one, it approved itself to Moses; it was submitted to God, sanctioned by Him, and carried out under special divine direction. The orator's purpose in this chapter is to bring before the people emphatically their own responsibilites and behavior. It is therefore important to remind them, that the sending of the spies, which led immediately to their complaining and rebellion, was their own suggestion.
The following verses to the end of the chapter give a condensed account, the fuller one being in Numbers. 13-14, of the occurrences which led to the banishment of the people for 40 years into the wilderness.

We will send men before us - See on Numbers 13 (note).

(o) And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.
(o) Read (Numbers 13:3).

And ye came near unto me everyone of you,.... Not every individual of them, but the heads of their tribes, that represented them; this is not to be understood of the present generation personally, but of their fathers, who all died in the wilderness, save a very few of them; but they being the same people and nation, it is so expressed:
and said, we will send men before us; that is, they thought it was proper and prudent so to do, and came to Moses to consult him about it; for we are not to suppose that they had determined upon it, whether he approved of it or not:
and they shall search us out the land: that they might know what sort of land it was, whether good or bad, fruitful or not, and whether woody or not: see Numbers 13:19.
and bring us word again by what way we must go up; or, "concerning the way (m) in which we must go"; which is the best way of entering it, most easy and accessible, where the passes are most open and least dangerous:
and into what cities we shall come; which it would be the most proper to attack and subdue first.
(m) , "de via", Noldius, p. 117. No. 594. so the Arabic version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

ye came . . . and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land--The proposal to despatch spies emanated from the people through unbelief; but Moses, believing them sincere, gave his cordial assent to this measure, and God on being consulted permitted them to follow the suggestion (see on Numbers 13:1). The issue proved disastrous to them, only through their own sin and folly.