Numbers 11

1 One day the people complained to Yahweh about their troubles. When Yahweh heard what they were saying, he became angry. So he sent a fire which burned among the people at the edge of their camp.

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.

2 Then the people cried out to Moses/me, and he/I prayed to Yahweh. Then the fire stopped burning.

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

3 So they called that place Taberah, [which means ‘burning’], because the fire from Yahweh had burned among them.

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

4 Then some troublemakers from other people-groups [who were traveling] with the Israelis began to want better food. And [when they started complaining] the Israeli people also started to complain.

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

5 They said, “We wish we had some meat!

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

6 We remember the fish that we ate while we were in Egypt, fish that was given to us without (cost/asking us to pay for it). And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic [that we wanted]. But now we do not have any desire to eat, because all we have to eat is this manna!”

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

7 The manna resembled small white seeds.

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

8 [Each morning] the people would go out and gather some [from the surface of the ground]. Then they made flour by grinding it or pounding it with stones. Then they [added water and] boiled it in a pot, or they made flat cakes with it [and baked them]. The cakes tasted like bread that was baked with [olive] oil.

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.

9 Each night the manna came down on their ground where their tents were, like dew [from the sky].

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

10 Moses/I heard all the Israeli people complaining as they were standing in the entrances of their tents. Yahweh became very angry, and Moses/I was also very perturbed.

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.

11 He/I [went into the Sacred Tent and] asked Yahweh, “Why have you caused me, your servant, to experience this trouble [RHQ]? Act mercifully to me! What wrong have I done, with the result that you have appointed me to take care of all of these people [RHQ]?

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?

12 (I am not their father./Am I their father?) [RHQ] Why have you told me to take care of them like a woman carries around her baby and (nurses it/gives it her milk) [MET, RHQ]? How can I take them to the land that you promised to give to our ancestors [RHQ]?

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?

13 Where can I get meat to feed all these people? They keep complaining to me, saying, ‘Give us some meat to eat!’

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

14 I cannot carry all these people’s burdens by myself! [They are like a heavy load [MET], and] I cannot carry this very heavy load any more.

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

15 If you intend to act like this toward me, kill me now. If you are really concerned about me, be kind to me and [kill me to] end my misery [of trying to take care of them]!”

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.”

16 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Summon 70 men whom you know are leaders among the Israeli people. Tell them to stand with you in front of the Sacred Tent.

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.

17 I will come down and talk with you there. Then I will take some of [the power of] my Spirit that you have, and I will put [that power] on them also. They will help you to take care of some of the things that the people are concerned about, in order that you will not need to do it alone.

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.

18 “Furthermore, say to the people, ‘Make yourselves acceptable to me, and tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were complaining, and Yahweh heard you when you were saying, “We want some meat to eat. We had better food in Egypt!” Now Yahweh will give you some meat, and you will eat it.

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.

19 You will eat meat not only for one or two days, nor only for five or ten or 20 days.

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

20 [You will eat meat every day] for one month, and then you will loathe/despise it, and it will cause you to want to vomit. [This will happen] because you have rejected Yahweh who is here among you, and you have wailed in his presence, saying [“We would have had better food to eat] if we had not left Egypt [RHQ].”’”

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?’”

21 But Moses/I replied to Yahweh, “There are 600,000 men [plus women and children] here with me, so ([why] do you say ‘I will give them plenty of meat every day for a month!’?/it does not seem right for you to say ‘I will give them plenty of meat every day for a month!’) [RHQ]

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.’

22 Even if we killed all the sheep and cattle, that would not [RHQ] be enough [to provide meat for all of them] Even if we caught all the fish in the sea [and gave it to them], that would not be enough [RHQ]!”

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?”

23 But Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Do you think that I [SYN] have no power? You will now see if I can do what I say I will do.”

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

24 So Moses/I went out [from the Sacred Tent] and told the people what Yahweh had said. Then he/I gathered together the 70 leaders and told them to stand around the Sacred Tent.

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.

25 Then Yahweh came down in the cloud [that was above the tent] and spoke to Moses/me. He took some of [the power of] the Spirit that he had given to Moses/me and gave it to the 70 leaders. By means of the power of the Spirit within them, they (prophesied/spoke messages that Yahweh gave them), but they did that only once.

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.

26 Two of the leaders whom Moses/I appointed, Eldad and Medad, were not there when the rest of them gathered together. They had not left [their tents] to go and stand around the Sacred Tent. But Yahweh’s Spirit came on them also, and they started to (prophesy/speak messages from Yahweh).

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.

27 So a young man ran and told Moses/me, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in all their tents!”

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

28 Joshua, who had helped Moses/me since he was a young man, said, “Sir, tell them to stop doing that!”

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

29 But Moses/I replied, “(Are you worried that they might injure my reputation/Do you think that I want to be the only one who prophesies) [RHQ]? I wish that all Yahweh’s people could (prophesy/speak messages from Yahweh). I wish that Yahweh would give the power of his Spirit to all of them!”

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!”

30 Then Moses/I and all the leaders went back to their/our tents.

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

31 Then Yahweh sent a strong wind from the sea. It blew quail into the area all around the camp for miles in every direction, [and caused the quail to fall onto the ground]. They were piled up on the ground about (3 feet/1 meter) high!

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.

32 So the people went out and gathered up the quail all that day, and all that night, and all of the following day. [It seemed as though] everyone gathered at least 50 bushels! They spread the quail out on the ground all around the camp, [so that the quail would dry out].

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.

33 [Then they cooked them and started to eat them]. But while they were still eating the meat [MTY], Yahweh [showed that he] was very angry with them. He struck them with a severe plague/sickness, [and many people died].

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.

34 The people who died and were buried were the ones who had said they wanted to eat meat [like they had formerly eaten in Egypt]. So they called that place Kibroth-Hattaavah, [which means ‘graves of those who craved’].

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

35 From there, the Israelis continued walking [east] until they arrived at Hazeroth [town], where they stopped and stayed [for a long time].

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