THE BOOK OF NUMBERS

 

Numbers Chapter 11

1 ¶ Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and devoured those who were in the outlying parts of the camp.

2 And the people cried to Moses; and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched.

3 And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.

4 ¶ And the mixed multitude that was among them began craving: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who will give us meat to eat?

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

6 But now our soul is dried up: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

7 And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color it as the color of bdellium.

8 And the people went around, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

9 And when the dew fell upon the camp during the night, the manna fell upon it.

10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

11 And Moses said to the LORD, Why have you afflicted your servant? and why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all these people upon me?

12 Have I conceived all these people? have I begotten them, that you should say to me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land which you swore to give to their fathers?

13 Where can I get meat to give to all these people? for they weep to me, saying, Give us meat to eat.

14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because they are too much for me.

15 If this is the way you deal with me, kill me, I pray you, at once, if I have found favor in your sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

16 ¶ And 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 tabernacle of the congregation, 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 that is on you, and will put it on them; and they will bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not have to bear it alone.

18 And say to the people, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat: for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us meat to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.

19 You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days;

20 But even a whole month, until it comes out your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you: because you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why did we leave Egypt?

21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, number six hundred thousand footmen; but you have said, I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.

22 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to satisfy them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to satisfy them?

23 And the LORD said to Moses, Has the LORD’S hand grown short? you shall see now whether my word shall come to pass for you or not.

24 ¶ And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it to the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but not after that.

26 But two of the men remained in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested on them; and they were of those who were listed, but had not gone out to the tabernacle: and 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, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

29 And Moses said to him, Are you envious for my sake? I wish to God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!

30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

31 ¶ And there went forth a wind from the LORD, 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, round about the camp, and about two cubits high above the surface of the earth.

32 And the people rose all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails: he who gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them out for themselves around the camp.

33 And while the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.

34 And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people who craved.

35 And the people traveled on from Kibrothhattaavah to Hazeroth; and stayed at Hazeroth.