Liber Numeri 11

1 Interea ortum est murmur populi, quasi dolentium pro labore, contra Dominum. Quod cum audisset Dominus, iratus est. Et accensus in eos ignis Domini devoravit extremam castrorum partem.

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 Cumque clamasset populus ad Moysen, oravit Moyses ad Dominum, et absorptus est ignis.

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

3 Vocavitque nomen loci illius, Incensio: eo quod incensus fuisset contra eos ignis Domini.

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

4 Vulgus quippe promiscuum, quod ascenderat cum eis, flagravit desiderio, sedens et flens, iunctis sibi pariter filiis Israel, et ait: Quis dabit nobis ad vescendum carnes?

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 Recordamur piscium quos comedebamus in Aegypto gratis: in mentem nobis veniunt cucumeres, et pepones, porrique, et cepe, et allia.

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

6 Anima nostra arida est, nihil aliud respiciunt oculi nostri nisi Man.

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

7 Erat autem Man quasi semen coriandri, coloris bdellii.

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

8 Circuibatque populus, et colligens illud, frangebat mola, sive terebat in mortario, coquens in olla, et faciens ex eo tortulas saporis quasi panis oleati.

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 Cumque descenderet nocte super castra ros, descendebat pariter et Man.

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

10 Audivit ergo Moyses flentem populum per familias, singulos per ostia tentorii sui. Iratusque est furor Domini valde: sed et Moysi intoleranda res visa est.

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 et ait ad Dominum: Cur afflixisti servum tuum? quare non invenio gratiam coram te? et cur imposuisti pondus universi populi huius super me?

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 Numquid ego concepi omnem hanc multitudinem, vel genui eam, ut dicas mihi: Porta eos in sinu tuo sicut portare solet nutrix infantulum, et defer in terram, pro qua iurasti patribus eorum?

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 Unde mihi carnes ut dem tantae multitudini? flent contra me, dicentes: Da nobis carnes ut comedamus.

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

14 Non possum solus sustinere omnem hunc populum, quia gravis est mihi.

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

15 Sin aliter tibi videtur, obsecro ut interficias me, et inveniam gratiam in oculis tuis, ne tantis afficiar malis.

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 Et dixit Dominus ad Moysen: Congrega mihi septuaginta viros de senibus Israel, quos tu nosti quod senes populi sint ac magistri: et duces eos ad ostium tabernaculi foederis, faciesque ibi stare tecum,

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 ut descendam et loquar tibi: et auferam de spiritu tuo, tradamque eis, ut sustentent tecum onus populi, et non tu solus graveris.

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 Populo quoque dices: Sanctificamini: cras comedetis carnes. ego enim audivi vos dicere: Quis dabit nobis escas carnium? bene nobis erat in Aegypto. Ut det vobis Dominus carnes, et comedatis:

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 non uno die, nec duobus, vel quinque aut decem, nec viginti quidem,

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

20 sed usque ad mensem dierum, donec exeat per nares vestras, et vertatur in nauseam, eo quod repuleritis Dominum, qui in medio vestri est, et fleveritis coram eo, dicentes: Quare egressi sumus ex Aegypto?

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 Et ait Moyses ad Dominum: Sexcenta millia peditum huius populi sunt. et tu dicis: Dabo eis esum carnium mense integro?

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 Numquid ovium et boum multitudo caedetur, ut possit sufficere ad cibum? vel omnes pisces maris in unum congregabuntur, ut eos satient?

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 Cui respondit Dominus: Numquid manus Domini invalida est? Iam nunc videbis utrum meus sermo opere compleatur.

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 Venit igitur Moyses, et narravit populo verba Domini, congregans septuaginta viros de senibus Israel, quos stare fecit circa tabernaculum.

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 Descenditque Dominus per nubem, et locutus est ad eum, auferens de spiritu qui erat in Moyse, et dans septuaginta viris. Cumque requievisset in eis Spiritus, prophetaverunt, nec ultra cessaverunt.

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 Remanserat autem in castris duo viri, quorum unus vocabatur Eldad, et alter Medad, super quos requievit Spiritus. nam et ipsi descripti fuerant, et non exierant ad tabernaculum.

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 Cumque prophetarent in castris, cucurrit puer, et nunciavit Moysi, dicens: Eldad et Medad prophetant in castris.

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

28 Statim Iosue filius Nun, minister Moysi, et electus e pluribus, ait: Domine mi Moyses prohibe eos.

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

29 At ille: Quid, inquit, aemularis pro me? quis tribuat ut omnis populus prophetet, et det eis Dominus Spiritum suum?

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 Reversusque est Moyses, et maiores natu Israel in castra.

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

31 Ventus autem egrediens a Domino arreptas trans mare coturnices detulit, et demisit in castra itinere quantum uno die confici potest, ex omni parte castrorum per circuitum, volabantque in aere duobus cubitis altitudine super terram.

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 Surgens ergo populus toto die illo, et nocte, ac die altero, congregavit coturnicum multitudinem, qui parum, decem coros: et siccaverunt eas per gyrum castrorum.

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 Adhuc carnes erant in dentibus eorum, nec defecerat huiuscemodi cibus: et ecce furor Domini concitatus in populum, percussit eum plaga magna nimis.

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 Vocatusque est ille locus, Sepulchra concupiscentiae: ibi enim sepelierunt populum qui desideraverat.

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

35 Egressi autem de Sepulchris concupiscentiae, venerunt in Haseroth, et manserunt ibi.

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