Numbers 11

1 And it came to pass that as the people complained in a manner displeasing in the ears of the Lord, the Lord heard it, and his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed at the uttermost part of the camp.

Now the people complained about their troubles as Yahweh listened. Yahweh heard the people and became angry. Fire from Yahweh burned among them and consumed some of the camp on its edges.

2 And the people then cried unto Moses; and Moses prayed unto the Lord, and the fire disappeared.

Then people called out to Moses, so Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire stopped.

3 And he called the name of the place Tab'erah; because the fire of the Lord had burnt among them.

That place was named Taberah, because Yahweh's fire burned among them.

4 And the mixed multitude that was among them felt a lustful longing: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who will give us flesh to eat?

Some foreign people began to camp with Israel's descendants. They wanted better food to eat. Then the people of Israel began to weep and say, “Who will give us meat to eat?

5 We remember the fish, which we could eat in Egypt for naught; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;

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

6 But now our soul is faint: there is nothing at all, only to the manna are our eyes [directed].

Now our appetite is gone, because all we can see is this manna.”

7 But the manna was like coriander-seed, and its color as the color of the bdellium.

Manna was like coriander seed. It looked like resin.

8 The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in a mill, or pounded it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pot, or made cakes of it: and its taste was as the taste of cakes mixed with oil.

The people walked around and gathered it. They ground it in mills, beat it in mortars, boiled it in pots, and made it into cakes. It tasted like fresh olive oil.

9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna also fell.

10 And Moses heard the people weep according to their families, every man at the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; and in the eyes of Moses also was it displeasing.

Moses heard the people weeping in their families, and every man was at the entrance to his tent. Yahweh was very angry, and in Moses' eyes their complaining was wrong.

11 And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou done evil to thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in thy eyes, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why are you not pleased with me? You make me carry the load of all these people.

12 Was it I who have conceived all this people? or was it I who have begotten them? that thou shouldst say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou hast sworn unto their fathers?

Did I conceive all these people? Have I given them birth so that you should say to me, 'Carry them closely to your chest as a father carries a baby?' Should I carry them to the land that you swore to their ancestors to give them?

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

Where can I find meat to give to all this people? They are weeping in front of me and are saying, 'Give us meat to eat.'

14 I am not able by myself alone to bear all this people, because it is too heavy for me.

I cannot bear all these people alone. They are too much for me.

15 And if thou wilt thus deal with me, then slay me, I pray thee, at once, if I have found favor in thy eyes: that I may not see my wretchedness.

Since you are treating me this way, kill me now—if I find favor in your eyes—do not let me see my misery.”

16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and its officers; and take them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall stand there with thee.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Bring to me seventy of Israel's elders. Be sure that they are elders and officers of the people. Bring them to the tent of meeting to stand there with you.

17 And I will come down and speak with thee there: and I will take some of the spirit which is upon thee, and I will put it upon them; and they shall bear with thee the burden of the people, and thou shalt not bear it by thyself alone.

I will come down and talk with you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will bear the burden of the people with you. You will not have to bear it alone.

18 And unto the people shalt thou say, Hold yourselves ready against tomorrow, that ye may eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was better with us in Egypt: thus will the Lord give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

Say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow and you will indeed eat meat, for you have wept and Yahweh has heard. You said, “Who will give us meat to eat? It was good for us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat it.

19 Not one day shall ye eat, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days;

You will not eat meat for only one day, two days, five days, ten days, or twenty days,

20 But up to a full month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it become loathsome unto you; because that ye have despised the Lord who is in the midst of you, and ye have wept before him, saying, Why did we come forth out of Egypt?

but you will eat meat for a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils. It will disgust you because you have rejected Yahweh, who is among you. You have wept before him. You said, “Why did we leave Egypt?”'”

21 And Moses said, Six hundred thousand men on foot is the people, in the midst of whom I am; and yet thou hast said, Flesh will I give them, that they may eat a whole month.

Then Moses said, “I am with 600,000 people, and you have said, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month.'

22 Shall flocks and herds be slain for them, that they may suffice for them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, that they may suffice for them?

Should we kill flocks and herds to satisfy them? Should we catch all the fish in the sea to satisfy them?”

23 And the Lord said unto Moses, Should the Lord's hand be too short? now shalt thou see whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Is my hand short? Now you will see whether or not my word is true.”

24 And Moses went out, and spoke to the people the words of the Lord; and he assembled seventy men from the elders of the people, and placed them round about the tabernacle.

Moses went out and told the people Yahweh's words. He gathered seventy of the people's elders and positioned them around the tent.

25 And the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke unto him; and he took some of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy men, the elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did not so any more.

Yahweh came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Yahweh took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but only on that occasion and not again.

26 And there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of those that were written down, but they had not gone out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

Two men remained in the camp, named Eldad and Medad. The Spirit also rested on them. Their names were written on the list, but they had not gone out to the tent. Nevertheless, they prophesied in the camp.

27 And there ran a young man, and told to Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.

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

28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses from his youth, answered and said, My Lord Moses, forbid them.

Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his chosen men, said to Moses, “My master Moses, stop them.”

29 And Moses said unto him, Art thou zealous for my sake? And oh that one might render all the people of the Lord prophets, that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!

Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all of Yahweh's people were prophets and that he would put his Spirit on them all!”

30 And Moses retired back into thy camp, he with the elders of Israel.

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

31 And a wind went forth from the Lord, and drove up quails from the sea, and scattered them over the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits high over the face of the earth.

Then a wind came from Yahweh and brought quail from the sea. They fell near the camp, about a day's journey on one side and a day's journey on the other side. The quail surrounded the camp about two cubits above the ground.

32 And the people arose all that day, and all that night, and all the following day, and they gathered the quails; he that had taken the least, had gathered ten chomers: and they spread them out for themselves round about the camp.

The people were busy gathering quail all that day, all the night, and all the next day. No one gathered less than ten homers of quail. They shared the quail all through the camp.

33 The flesh was yet between their teeth, it was not yet chewed: when the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote among the people a very great plague.

While the meat was still between their teeth, while they were chewing it, Yahweh became angry at them. He attacked the people with a very great disease.

34 And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they buried the people that had lustfully craved.

That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved meat.

35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed unto Chazeroth; and they remained at Chazeroth.

From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth, where they stayed.