Numbers 11

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

It wasn't long before the people started to complain about how much they were suffering. When the Lord heard what they were saying, he became angry. Fire from the Lord burned them, destroying some on the edge of the camp.

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

The people cried to Moses for help. He prayed to the Lord and the fire subsided.

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

So that place was named Taberah, because the fire from the Lord burned them.

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

A group of troublemakers among them had such intense food cravings they affected the Israelites who started crying again, asking “Who's going to get us some meat to eat?

5 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.

We think back to all the fish we ate in Egypt that didn't cost us anything, as well as the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.

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

We're fading away here! The only thing we ever see is this manna!”

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

Manna looked like coriander seeds, light in color like gum resin.

8 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.

The people would go out and collect it, grind it up in a mill or crush it in a mortar. Then they would boil it in a pot and make it into flatbread. It tasted like pastries made with the best olive oil.

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

When the dew came down on the camp at night the manna would come down with it.

10 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.

Moses heard all the families crying at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became very angry, and Moses was also upset.

11 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?

He asked the Lord, “Why have you made things so tough for me, your servant? Why are you so unhappy with me that you have placed on me the heavy responsibility for all these people?

12 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?

Are they my children? Did I give birth to them, so you could tell me, ‘Hold them close to your chest like a nurse carrying a baby’ and take them to the land you promised to give to their forefathers?

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

Where am I supposed to get meat for all of them? They keep on complaining to me, ‘Get us some meat to eat!’

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

I can't go on carrying all these people by myself—it's just too much.

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

If this is the way you're going to treat me, then please just kill me now so I don't have to face how depressed I've become. Please grant me this one request.”

16 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.

The Lord told Moses, “Bring before me seventy Israelite elders who you know are repected as leaders by the people Take them to the Tent of Meeting. They will stand there with you.

17 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.

I will come down and talk with you there. I will take some of the Spirit you have and give it to them. They will take some of the responsibility for the people so you won't have to bear it alone.

18 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.

Tell the people: Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you'll have meat to eat, because you were complaining and the Lord heard you saying, ‘Who's going to get us some meat to eat? We were better off in Egypt!’ So the Lord is going to provide you with meat to eat.

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

You're going to eat it, not for just a day or two, and not for five or ten or twenty days.

20 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 among you, and wept before him, saying, What had we to do to come out of Egypt?

You're going to eat it for a whole month until it makes you vomit and it comes out through your nostrils, because you have rejected the Lord who is right here with you, complaining to him by saying, ‘Why on earth did we ever leave Egypt?’”

21 And Moses said, The people among 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.

But Moses replied, “Here I am with 600,000 people and you're telling me, ‘I'm going to give them meat and they'll eat it for a month’?

22 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?

Even if all our flocks and herds were slaughtered, would that be enough for them? Even if all the fish in the sea were caught, would that be enough for them?”

23 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.

“Doesn't the Lord have the power to do that?” the Lord responded. “Now you're going to find out whether what I've said will happen or not!”

24 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.

Moses went and shared with the people what the Lord said. He summoned seventy elders of the people and had them stand around the tent.

25 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.

Then the Lord came down and talked to him. The Lord took some of the Spirit Moses had and gave it to them. They prophesied, but this didn't ever happen again.

26 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.

However, two men named Eldad and Medad had stayed behind in the camp. The Spirit came on them too. (They had been put on the list of the seventy elders, but they hadn't gone to the tent. But they prophesied where they were in the camp anyway.)

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

A young lad ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

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

Joshua, son of Nun, who had been Moses' assistant since he was young, reacted, saying, “Moses, my lord, you have to stop them!”

29 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.

“Are you jealous for my reputation?” Moses replied. “I wish that every one of the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would give his Spirit to all of them!”

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

Then Moses went back to the camp with the elders of Israel.

31 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.

The Lord sent a wind that blew quail in from the sea and deposited them near the camp. They covered the ground to a depth of about two cubits and extended for a day's journey in every direction from the camp.

32 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.

All through that day and night, and all through the next day, the people went on collecting the quail. Everyone collected at least ten homers, and they spread them out to dry all around the camp.

33 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.

But while the people were still biting into the meat, before they even chewed it down, the Lord showed his burning anger against them, killing some of them with a severe disease.

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

They named that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because that was where they buried the people who had these intense food cravings.

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

Then they moved on from Kibroth-hattaavah to Hazeroth, where they stayed for some time.