Numbers 11

1 And the people murmured sinfully before the Lord; and the Lord heard [them] and was very angry; and fire was kindled among them from the Lord, and devoured a part of the camp.

Now the people were saying evil against the Lord; and the Lord, hearing it, was angry and sent fire on them, burning the outer parts of the tent-circle.

2 And the people cried to Moses: and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was quenched.

And the people made an outcry to Moses, and Moses made prayer to the Lord, and the fire was stopped.

3 And the name of that place was called Burning; for a fire was kindled among them from the Lord.

So that place was named Taberah, because of the fire of the Lord which had been burning among them.

4 And the mixed multitude among them lusted exceedingly; and they and the children of Israel sat down and wept and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

And the mixed band of people who went with them were overcome by desire: and the children of Israel, weeping again, said, Who will give us flesh for our food?

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

Sweet is the memory of the fish we had in Egypt for nothing, and the fruit and green plants of every sort, sharp and pleasing to the taste:

6 But now our soul is dried up; our eyes [turn] to nothing but to the manna.

But now our soul is wasted away; there is nothing at all: we have nothing but this manna before our eyes.

7 And the manna is as coriander seed, and the appearance of it the appearance of hoarfrost.

Now the manna was like a seed of grain, like small clear drops.

8 And the people went through the field, and gathered, and ground it in the mill, or pounded it in a mortar, and baked it in a pan, and made cakes of it; and the sweetness of it was as the taste [of] wafer made with oil.

The people went about taking it up from the earth, crushing it between stones or hammering it to powder, and boiling it in pots, and they made cakes of it: its taste was like the taste of cakes cooked with oil.

9 And when the dew came upon the camp by night, the manna came down upon it.

When the dew came down on the tents at night, the manna came down with it.

10 And Moses heard them weeping by their families, every one in his door: and the Lord was very angry; and the thing was evil in the sight of Moses.

And at the sound of the people weeping, every man at his tent-door, the wrath of the Lord was great, and Moses was very angry.

11 And Moses said to the Lord, Why have you afflicted your servant, and why have I not found grace in your sight, that you should lay the weight of this people upon me?

And Moses said to the Lord, Why have you done me this evil? and why have I not grace in your eyes, that you have put on me the care of all this people?

12 Have I conceived all this people, or have I born them? that you say to me, Take them into your bosom, as a nurse would take her suckling, into the land which you sware to their fathers?

Am I the father of all this people? have I given them birth, that you say to me, Take them in your arms, like a child at the breast, to the land which you gave by an oath to their fathers?

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

Where am I to get flesh to give to all this people? For they are weeping to me and saying, Give us flesh for our food.

14 I shall not be able to bear this people alone, for this thing is too heavy for me.

I am not able by myself to take the weight of all this people, for it is more than my strength.

15 And if you do thus to me, kill me utterly, if I have found favor with you, that I may not see my affliction.

If this is to be my fate, put me to death now in answer to my prayer, if I have grace in your eyes; and let me not see my shame.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, Gather me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you yourself know that they are the elders of the people, and their scribes; and you shall bring them to the tabernacle of witness, and they shall stand there with you.

And the Lord said to Moses, Send for seventy of the responsible men of Israel, who are in your opinion men of weight and authority over the people; make them come to the Tent of meeting and be there with you.

17 And I will go down, and speak there with you; and I will take of the spirit that is upon you, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear together with you the burden of the people, and you shall not bear them alone.

And I will come down and have talk with you there: and I will take some of the spirit which is on you and put it on them, and they will take part of the weight of the people off you, so that you do not have to take it by yourself.

18 And to the people you shall say, Purify yourselves for the morrow, and you shall eat flesh; for you wept before the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: and the Lord shall allow you to eat flesh, and you shall eat flesh.

And say to the people, Make yourselves clean before tomorrow and you will have flesh for your food: for in the ears of the Lord you have been weeping and saying, Who will give us flesh for food? for we were well off in Egypt: and so the Lord will give you flesh, and it will be your food;

19 You shall not eat one day, nor two, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days;

Not for one day only, or even for five or ten or twenty days;

20 you shall eat for a full month, until [the flesh] come out at your nostrils; and it shall be nausea to you, because you disobeyed the Lord, who is among you, and wept before him, saying, What had we to do to come out of Egypt?

But every day for a month, till you are tired of it, turning from it in disgust: because you have gone against the Lord who is with you, and have been weeping before him saying, Why did we come out of Egypt?

21 And Moses said, The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and you said, I will give them flesh to eat, and they shall eat a whole month.

Then Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, I will give them flesh to be their food for a month.

22 Shall sheep and oxen be slain for them, and shall it suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and shall it suffice them?

Are flocks and herds to be put to death for them? or are all the fish in the sea to be got together so that they may be full?

23 And the Lord said to Moses, Shall not the hand of the Lord be fully sufficient? now shall you know whether my word shall come to pass to you or not.

And the Lord said to Moses, Has the Lord's hand become short? Now you will see if my word comes true for you or not.

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

And Moses went out and gave the people the words of the Lord: and he took seventy of the responsible men of the people, placing them round the Tent.

25 And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy men that were elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and ceased.

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and had talk with him, and put on the seventy men some of the spirit which was on him: now when the spirit came to rest on them, they were like prophets, but only at that time.

26 And there were two men left in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Modad; and the spirit rested upon them, and these were of the number of them that were enrolled, but they did not come to the tabernacle; and they prophesied in the camp.

But two men were still in the tent-circle one of them named Eldad and the other Medad: and the spirit came to rest on them; they were among those who had been sent for, but they had not gone out to the Tent: and the prophet's power came on them in the tent-circle.

27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and spoke, saying, Eldad and Modad prophesy in the camp.

And a young man went running to Moses and said, Eldad and Medad are acting as prophets in the tent-circle.

28 And Joshua the son of Naue, who attended on Moses, the chosen one, said, [My] lord Moses, forbid them.

Then Joshua, the son of Nun, who had been Moses' servant from the time when he was a child, said, My lord Moses, let them be stopped.

29 And Moses said to him, Are you jealous on my account? and would that all the Lord's people were prophets; whenever the Lord shall put his spirit upon them.

And Moses said to him, Are you moved by envy on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them!

30 And Moses departed into the camp, himself and the elders of Israel.

Then Moses, with the responsible men of Israel, went back to the tent-circle.

31 And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails over from the sea; and it brought them down upon the camp a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on that side, round about the camp, as it were two cubits from the earth.

Then the Lord sent a wind, driving little birds from the sea, so that they came down on the tents, and all round the tent-circle, about a day's journey on this side and on that, in masses about two cubits high over the face of the earth.

32 And the people rose up all the day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered quails; he that gathered least, gathered ten measures; and they refreshed themselves round about the camp.

And all that day and all night and the day after, the people were taking up the birds; the smallest amount which anyone got was ten homers: and they put them out all round the tents.

33 The flesh was yet between their teeth, before it failed, when the Lord was angry with the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was tasted, the wrath of the Lord was moved against the people and he sent a great outburst of disease on them.

34 And the name of that place was called the Graves of Lust; for there they buried the people that lusted.

So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they put in the earth the bodies of the people who had given way to their desires.

35 The people departed from the Graves of Lust to Aseroth; and the people halted at Aseroth.

From Kibroth-hattaavah the people went on to Hazeroth; and there they put up their tents.