NUMBERS 11

And the people were complaining, and it was evil in the ears of Yehowah; when Yehowah heard it, his anger flared up, and the fire of Yehowah burned among them and consumed the fringe of the camp. 2 Then the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yehowah, and the fire died down. 3 So that place was named Taberah,* because the fire of Yehowah burned among them. * That is Burning

4 Now the mixed crowd which was among them was filled with craving; and the sons of Israel then wept again, and said, Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our appetite has gone, there being nothing at all but this manna before our eyes.

7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like that of fresh oil. 9 For when the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna came down with it.

10 And Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at his tent door; and Yehowah's anger flared up, and this displeased Moses. 11 And Moses said to Yehowah, Why hast thou treated thy servant so badly? And why have I not found favour in thy sight, so that thou dost lay the burden of all this people upon me? 12 Did I conceive all this people, or did I bring them forth, that thou shouldst say to me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land which I promised to their fathers? 13 Where should I get meat to give to all this people? For they weep to me, and say, Give us meat so that we may eat. 14 I cannot sustain all this people alone, because the weight is too much for me. 15 But if thou wilt deal like this with me, kill me quickly, I ask, if I find favour in thy sight; and do not let me see my wretchedness.

16 Then Yehowah said to Moses, Bring together for me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders of the people and officers over them; and take them to the tent of meeting so that they may stand there with you. 17 And I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit which is on you and put it on them; and they shall sustain with you the burden of the people along with you, so that you do not have to sustain it by yourself. 18 And say to the people, Sanctify yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of Yehowah, and have said, Who will give us meat to eat, for it was better for us in Egypt? Therefore Yehowah will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat for one day or two days, nor for five days or ten days, nor for twenty days; 20 but you shall eat for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you rejected Yehowah who was among you, and wept before him, and said, Why did we come out of Egypt? 21 And Moses said, The people who are with me are six hundred thousand on foot; and thou hast said, I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month. 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to satisfy them? Or shall all the fish in the sea be caught for them, to satisfy them? 23 And Yehowah said to Moses, Is the hand of Yehowah shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come to pass for you or not.

24 So Moses went out, and told the people Yehowah's words; and he brought together seventy men of the elders of the people, and placed them around the tent. 25 Then Yehowah came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit rested on them they prophesied; but they never did so again.* * Some ancient versions read and they did not cease

26 Now two of those men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad, and the spirit rested on them, for they were of those chosen,* yet they had not gone out to the tent; so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, who had been Moses's minister from his youth, spoke up and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 29 But Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all Yehowah's people were prophets, and that Yehowah would put his spirit on them! 30 Then Moses returned to the camp together with the elders of Israel. * lit written

31 And a wind sprang up from Yehowah, and it brought quails from the sea, and scattered them across the camp, covering about a day's journey on one side and a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp, and flying about two cubits above the surface of the ground. 32 And the people were up all that day and all that night and all the next day, catching the quails; the least successful caught ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yehowah's anger flared up against the people, and Yehowah struck the people down with a very great plague. 34 And Moses named that place Kibroth-hattaavah,* because there they buried the people who had the craving. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth; and they halted at Hazeroth. * That is The graves of craving