Numbers 11

1 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.

Meanwhile, there arose a murmur among the people against the Lord, as if they were grief-stricken because of their labors. And when the Lord had heard it, he was angry. And when the fire of the Lord was enflamed against them, it devoured those who were at the extreme end of the camp.

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

And when the people had cried out to Moses, Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was consumed.

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

And he called the name of that place, ‘The Burning,’ because the fire of the Lord had burned against them.

4 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?

So then, the mix of common people, who had ascended with them, were enflamed with desire, and sitting and weeping, with the sons of Israel joining them, they said, “Who will give us flesh to eat?

5 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.

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

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

Our life is dry; our eyes look out to see nothing but manna.”

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

Now the manna was like coriander seed, but with the color of bdellium.

8 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.

And the people wandered about, gathering it, and they crushed it with a millstone, or ground it with a mortar; then they boiled it in a pot, and made biscuits out of it, with a taste like bread made with oil.

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

And when the dew descended in the night over the camp, the manna descended together with it.

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

And so, Moses heard the people weeping by their families, each one at the door of his tent. And the fury of the Lord was greatly enflamed. And to Moses also the matter seemed intolerable.

11 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?

And so he said to the Lord: “Why have you afflicted your servant? Why do I not find favor before you? And why have you imposed the weight of this entire people upon me?

12 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?

Could I have conceived this entire multitude, or have given birth to them, so that you might say to me: Carry them in your bosom, as a nursemaid usually carries a little infant, and bring them into the land, about which you have sworn to their fathers?

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

From where would I obtain the flesh to give to so great a multitude? They weep against me, saying, ‘Give us flesh, so that we may eat.’

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

I alone am unable to sustain this entire people, because it is too heavy for me.

15 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.”

But if it seems to you otherwise, I beg you to put me to death, and so may I find grace in your eyes, lest I be afflicted with such evils.”

16 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.

And the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders, as well as teachers, of the people. And you shall lead them to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and you shall cause them to stand there with you,

17 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.

so that I may descend and speak to you. And I will take from your spirit, and I will deliver it to them, so that, with you, they may sustain the burden of the people, and so that you will not be weighed down alone.

18 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.

You shall also say to the people: Be sanctified. Tomorrow you will eat flesh. For I have heard you say: ‘Who will give us flesh to eat? It was well with us in Egypt.’ So then, may the Lord give you flesh. And you will eat,

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

not for one day, nor for two, nor for five, nor for ten, nor even for twenty,

20 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?’”

but for up to a month of days, until it exits from your nostrils, and until it turns into nausea for you, because you have slipped away from the Lord, who is in your midst, and because you have wept before him, saying: ‘Why did we go forth out of Egypt?’”

21 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’?

And Moses said: “There are six hundred thousand footmen of this people, and yet you say, ‘I will give them flesh to eat for a whole month.’

22 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?”

Could a multitude of sheep and oxen be slain, so that there would be enough food? Or will the fishes of the sea be gathered together, in order to satisfy them?”

23 “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!”

And the Lord answered him: “Can the hand of the Lord be ineffective? Soon now, you shall see whether my word will be fulfilled in this work.”

24 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.

And so, Moses went and explained the words of the Lord to the people. Gathering together seventy men from the elders of Israel, he caused them to stand around the tabernacle.

25 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.

And the Lord descended in a cloud, and he spoke to him, taking from the Spirit which was in Moses, and giving to the seventy men. And when the Spirit had rested in them, they prophesied; nor did they cease afterwards.

26 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.)

Now there had remained in the camp two of the men, of whom one was called Eldad, and the other Medad, upon whom the Spirit rested; for they also had been enrolled, but they did not go forth to the tabernacle.

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

And when they were prophesying in the camp, a boy ran and reported to Moses, saying: “Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp.”

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

Promptly, Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses and chosen from many, said: “My lord Moses, prohibit them.”

29 “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!”

But he said, “Why are you jealous on my behalf? Who decides that any of the people may prophesy and that God may give to them his Spirit?”

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

And Moses returned, with those greater by birth of Israel, into the camp.

31 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.

Then a wind, going out from the Lord and moving forcefully across the sea, brought quails and cast them into the camp, across a distance of one day’s journey, in every part of the camp all around, and they flew in the air two cubits high above the ground.

32 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.

Therefore, the people, rising up, gathered quails all that day and night, and the next day; he who did least well gathered ten homers. And they dried them throughout the camp.

33 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.

The flesh was still between their teeth, neither had this kind of food ceased, and behold, the fury of the Lord was provoked against the people, and he struck them with an exceedingly great scourge.

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

And that place was called, ‘The Graves of Lust.’ For there, they buried the people who had desired.

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

Then, departing from the Graves of Lust, they arrived in Hazeroth, and they stayed there.