Liber Numeri 11

1 interea ortum est murmur populi quasi dolentium pro labore contra Dominum quod cum audisset 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 Mosen oravit Moses Dominum et absortus 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 succensus 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 Israhel 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 cepae et alia

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 Moses flentem populum per familias singulos per ostia tentorii sui iratusque est furor Domini valde sed et Mosi 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 adflixisti servum tuum quare non invenio gratiam coram te et cur inposuisti 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 mihi est

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 adficiar 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 Mosen congrega mihi septuaginta viros de senibus Israhel 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 nausiam eo quod reppuleritis 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 Moses sescenta milia 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 conpleatur

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 Moses et narravit populo verba Domini congregans septuaginta viros de senibus Israhel 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 Mosen et dans septuaginta viris cumque requievisset in eis spiritus prophetaverunt nec ultra cessarunt

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 remanserant autem in castris duo viri quorum unus vocabatur Heldad 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 nuntiavit Mosi dicens Heldad 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 Mosi et electus e pluribus ait domine mi Moses 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 Moses et maiores natu Israhel 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 dimisit 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 qui parum decem choros 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 Aseroth et manserunt ibi

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