Numbers 11
11
The People Complain Again
1The people started complaining about their troubles. The Lord heard their complaints. He heard these things and became angry. Fire from the Lord burned among the people. The fire burned some of the areas at the edge of the camp. 2So the people cried to Moses for help. He prayed to the Lord and the fire stopped burning. 3So that place was called Taberah.#11:3 Taberah This name means “burning.” The people gave the place that name because the Lord caused a fire to burn in their camp.
The 70 Older Leaders
4The foreigners who had joined the Israelites began wanting other things to eat. Soon all the Israelites began complaining again. The people said, “We want to eat meat! 5We remember the fish we ate in Egypt. That fish cost us nothing. We also had good vegetables like cucumbers, melons, chives, onions, and garlic. 6But now we have lost our strength. We never eat anything—only this manna!” 7(The manna was like small coriander seeds, and it looked like sap from a tree. 8The people gathered the manna. Then they used rocks to crush it and cooked it in a pot. Or they ground it into flour and made thin cakes with it. The cakes tasted like sweet cakes cooked with olive oil. 9The manna fell on the ground each night when the ground became wet with dew.)
10Moses heard the people complaining. People from every family were sitting by their tents and complaining. The Lord became very angry, and this made Moses very upset. 11He asked the Lord, “Why did you bring this trouble on me? I am your servant. What did I do wrong? What did I do to upset you? Why did you give me responsibility over all these people? 12You know that I am not the father of all these people. You know that I did not give birth to them. But I must take care of them, like a nurse carrying a baby in her arms. Why do you force me to do this? Why do you force me to carry them to the land that you promised to our fathers? 13I don’t have enough meat for all these people! And they continue complaining to me. They say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14I cannot take care of all these people alone. The burden is too heavy for me. 15If you plan to continue giving me their troubles, kill me now. If you accept me as your servant, let me die now. Then I will be finished with all my troubles!”
16The Lord said to Moses, “Bring to me 70 of the elders of Israel. These men are the leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent. Let them stand there with you. 17Then I will come down and speak with you there. The Spirit#11:17 Spirit Or “spirit.” Also in verses 25, 29. is on you now. But I will also give some of that Spirit to them. Then they will help you take care of the people. In this way you will not have to be responsible for these people alone.
18“Tell the people this: Make yourselves ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out and said, ‘We need meat to eat! It was better for us in Egypt!’ So now the Lord will give you meat. And you will eat it. 19You will eat it for more than one, or two, or five, or ten, or even twenty days! 20You will eat that meat for a whole month until you are sick of it. This will happen to you because you complained against the Lord. He lives among you and knows what you need, but you cried and complained to him! You said, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”
21Moses said, “There are 600,000 soldiers here, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22If we were to kill all the sheep and cattle, that would still not be enough to feed this many people for a month. And if we caught all the fish in the sea, it would not be enough for them!”
23But the Lord said to Moses, “Don’t limit my power! You will see that I can do what I say I can do.”
24So Moses went out to speak with the people. He told them what the Lord said. Then he gathered 70 of the elders together and told them to stand around the Tent. 25Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He put on the 70 elders some of the same Spirit that was on Moses. After the Spirit came down on them, they began to prophesy.#11:25 prophesy Usually this means “to speak for God.” But here, it might mean that God’s Spirit took control of these men in some special way. Also in verse 26. But that was the only time they ever did this.
26Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not go out to the Tent. Their names were on the list of elders, but they stayed in camp. But the Spirit also came on them, and they began prophesying in camp. 27A young man ran and told Moses. The man said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in camp.”
28Joshua son of Nun said to Moses, “Moses, sir, you must stop them!” (Joshua had been Moses’ helper since Joshua was a boy.)
29But Moses answered, “Are you afraid the people will think that I am not the leader now? I wish that all the Lord’s people were able to prophesy. I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!” 30Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp.
The Quail Come
31Then the Lord made a powerful wind to blow in from the sea, and it blew quail into the area all around the camp. There were so many birds that the ground was covered. They were about three feet deep on the ground. There were quail in every direction as far as a man can walk in one day. 32They went out and gathered quail all that day and all that night. And they gathered quail all the next day too! The smallest amount anyone gathered was 60 bushels. Then the people spread the quail meat all around the camp to dry in the sun.
33People began to eat the meat, but the Lord became very angry. While the meat was still in their mouths, before the people could finish eating it, the Lord caused the people to become very sick and die. 34So the people named that place Kibroth Hattaavah,#11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah This name means “Graves of Strong Desire.” because there they buried those who had the strong desire for meat.
35From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Numbers 11
11
1 The people were complaining in the ears of the LORD. When the LORD heard it, his anger burnt; and the LORD’s fire burnt amongst them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated. 3The name of that place was called Taberah,#11:3 Taberah means “burning” because the LORD’s fire burnt amongst them.
4 The mixed multitude that was amongst them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; 6but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.” 7The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium.#11:7 Bdellium is a resin extracted from certain African trees. 8The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. 9When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the LORD’s anger burnt greatly; and Moses was displeased. 11Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favour in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers’? 13Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 15If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favour in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
16 The LORD said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.
18“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat. 19You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is amongst you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
21 Moses said, “The people, amongst whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’ 22Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”
23 The LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”
24 Moses went out, and told the people the LORD’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent. 25The LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. 26But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. 27A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”
28 Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!”
29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”
30 Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. 31A wind from the LORD went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits#11:31 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimetres. above the surface of the earth. 32The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers;#11:32 1 homer is about 220 litres or 6 bushels and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp. 33While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the LORD’s anger burnt against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague. 34The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah,#11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah means “graves of lust” because there they buried the people who lusted.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people travelled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.
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