Numbers 11

1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.

And the people murmured sinfully before the Lord; and the Lord heard [them] and was very angry; and fire was kindled amongst them from the Lord, and devoured a part of the camp.

2 And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down.

And the people cried to Moses: and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was quenched.

3 So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.

And the name of that place was called Burning; for a fire was kindled amongst them from the Lord.

4 Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?

And the mixed multitude amongst them lusted exceedingly; and they and the children of Israel sat down and wept and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5 We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.

We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt freely; and the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the garlic, and the onions.

6 But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!”

But now our soul is dried up; our eyes [turn] to nothing but to the manna.

7 Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin.

And the manna is as coriander seed, and the appearance of it the appearance of hoarfrost.

8 The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil.

And the people went through the field, and gathered, and ground it in the mill, or pounded it in a mortar, and baked it in a pan, and made cakes of it; and the sweetness of it was as the taste [of] wafer made with oil.

9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.

And when the dew came upon the camp by night, the manna came down upon it.

10 Then Moses heard the people of family after family weeping at the entrances to their tents, and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses was also displeased.

And Moses heard them weeping by their families, every one in his door: and the Lord was very angry; and the thing was evil in the sight of Moses.

11 So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?

And Moses said to the Lord, Why have you afflicted your servant, and why have I not found grace in your sight, that you should lay the weight of this people upon me?

12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth, so that You should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You swore to give their fathers?

Have I conceived all this people, or have I born them? that you say to me, Take them into your bosom, as a nurse would take her suckling, into the land which you sware to their fathers?

13 Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’

Whence have I flesh to give to all this people? for they weep to me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me.

I shall not be able to bear this people alone, for this thing is too heavy for me.

15 If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”

And if you do thus to me, kill me utterly, if I have found favour with you, that I may not see my affliction.

16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.

And the Lord said to Moses, Gather me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you yourself know that they are the elders of the people, and their scribes; and you shall bring them to the tabernacle of witness, and they shall stand there with you.

17 And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.

And I will go down, and speak there with you; and I will take of the spirit that is upon you, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear together with you the burden of the people, and you shall not bear them alone.

18 And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have cried out in the hearing of the LORD, saying: ‘Who will feed us meat? For we were better off in Egypt!’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat.

And to the people you shall say, Purify yourselves for the morrow, and you shall eat flesh; for you wept before the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: and the Lord shall allow you to eat flesh, and you shall eat flesh.

19 You will eat it not for one or two days, nor for five or ten or twenty days,

You shall not eat one day, nor two, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days;

20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”

you shall eat for a full month, until [the flesh] come out at your nostrils; and it shall be nausea to you, because you disobeyed the Lord, who is amongst you, and wept before him, saying, What had we to do to come out of Egypt?

21 But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’

And Moses said, The people amongst whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and you said, I will give them flesh to eat, and they shall eat a whole month.

22 If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?”

Shall sheep and oxen be slain for them, and shall it suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and shall it suffice them?

23 The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”

And the Lord said to Moses, Shall not the hand of the Lord be fully sufficient? now shall you know whether my word shall come to pass to you or not.

24 So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent.

And Moses went out, and spoke the words of the Lord to the people; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and he set them round about the tabernacle.

25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.

And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy men that were elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and ceased.

26 Two men, however, had remained in the camp—one named Eldad and the other Medad—and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp.

And there were two men left in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Modad; and the spirit rested upon them, and these were of the number of them that were enrolled, but they did not come to the tabernacle; and they prophesied in the camp.

27 A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

And a young man ran and told Moses, and spoke, saying, Eldad and Modad prophesy in the camp.

28 Joshua son of Nun, the attendant to Moses since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”

And Joshua the son of Naue, who attended on Moses, the chosen one, said, [My] lord Moses, forbid them.

29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!”

And Moses said to him, Are you jealous on my account? and would that all the Lord's people were prophets; whenever the Lord shall put his spirit upon them.

30 Then Moses returned to the camp, along with the elders of Israel.

And Moses departed into the camp, himself and the elders of Israel.

31 Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day’s journey in every direction around the camp.

And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails over from the sea; and it brought them down upon the camp a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on that side, round about the camp, as it were two cubits from the earth.

32 All that day and night, and all the next day, the people stayed up gathering the quail. No one gathered less than ten homers, and they spread them out all around the camp.

And the people rose up all the day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered quails; he that gathered least, gathered ten measures; and they refreshed themselves round about the camp.

33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.

The flesh was yet between their teeth, before it failed, when the Lord was angry with the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.

34 So they called that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

And the name of that place was called the Graves of Lust; for there they buried the people that lusted.

35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth, where they remained for some time.

The people departed from the Graves of Lust to Aseroth; and the people halted at Aseroth.