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
The Israelites Complain
1One day the Israelites started complaining about their troubles. The Lord heard them and became so angry that he destroyed the outer edges of their camp with fire.
2When the people begged Moses to help, he prayed, and the fire went out. 3They named the place “Burning,”#11.3 Burning: Or “Taberah.” because in his anger the Lord had set their camp on fire.
The People Grumble about Being Hungry
4One day some foreigners among the Israelites became greedy for food, and even the Israelites themselves began moaning, “We don't have any meat! 5In Egypt we could eat all the fish we wanted, and there were cucumbers, melons, all kinds of onions, and garlic. 6But we're starving out here, and the only food we have is this manna.”
7 #
Ex 16.31. The manna was like small whitish seeds 8-9#Ex 16.13-15. and tasted like something baked with sweet olive oil. It appeared at night with the dew. In the morning the people would collect the manna, grind or crush it into flour, then boil it and make it into thin wafers.
10The Israelites stood around their tents complaining. Moses heard them and was upset that they had made the Lord angry. 11He prayed:
I am your servant, Lord, so why are you doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this? You've made me responsible for all these people, 12but they're not my children. You told me to nurse them along and to carry them to the land you promised their ancestors. 13They keep whining for meat, but where can I get meat for them? 14This job is too much for me. How can I take care of all these people by myself? 15If this is the way you're going to treat me, just kill me now and end my miserable life!
Seventy Leaders Are Chosen To Help Moses
16The Lord said to Moses:
Choose 70 of Israel's respected leaders and go with them to the sacred tent. 17While I am talking with you there, I will give them some of your authority, so they can share responsibility for my people. You will no longer have to care for them by yourself.
18As for the Israelites, I have heard them complaining about not having meat and about being better off in Egypt. So tell them to make themselves acceptable to me, because tomorrow they will have meat. 19-20In fact, they will have meat day after day for a whole month—not just a few days, or even 10 or 20. They turned against me and wanted to go back to Egypt. Now they will eat meat until they get sick of it.
21Moses replied, “At least 600,000 grown men are here with me. How can you say there will be enough meat to feed them and their families for a whole month? 22Even if we butchered all our sheep and cattle, or caught every fish in the sea, we wouldn't have enough to feed them.”
23The Lord answered, “I can do anything! Watch and you'll see my words come true.”
24Moses told the people what the Lord had said. Then he chose 70 respected leaders and went with them to the sacred tent. While the leaders stood in a circle around the tent, Moses went inside, 25and the Lord spoke with him. Then the Lord took some authority#11.25 some authority: Or “some of the Spirit's power.” from Moses and gave it to the 70 leaders. And when the Lord's Spirit took control of them, they started shouting like prophets. But they did it only this one time.
26Eldad and Medad were two leaders who had not gone to the tent. But when the Spirit took control of them, they began shouting like prophets right there in camp. 27A boy ran to Moses and told him about Eldad and Medad.
28Joshua#11.28 Joshua: Hebrew “Joshua son of Nun.” was there helping Moses, as he had done since he was young. And he said to Moses, “Sir, you must stop them!”
29But Moses replied, “Are you concerned what this might do to me? I wish the Lord would give his Spirit to all his people so everyone could be a prophet.” 30Then Moses and the 70 leaders went back to camp.
The Lord Sends Quails
31Some time later the Lord sent a strong wind that blew quails in from the sea until Israel's camp was completely surrounded with birds, piled up about a meter high for many kilometers in every direction. 32The people picked up quails for two days—each person filled at least ten large baskets. Then they spread them out to dry. 33But before the meat could be eaten, the Lord became angry and sent a deadly disease through the camp.
34After they had buried the people who had been so greedy for meat, they called the place “Graves for the Greedy.”#11.34 Graves for the Greedy: Or “Kibroth-Hattaavah.”
35Israel then broke camp and traveled to Hazeroth.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.