Numbers 11 - 12
The People Complain
11Now the people became like athose who complain of calamity bin the ears of Yahweh. And Yahweh heard it and His anger was kindled, and the fire of Yahweh burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2aThe people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire 1died out. 3So the name of that place was called 1,aTaberah because the fire of Yahweh burned among them.
4And the arabble who were among them 1had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “bWho will give us 2meat to eat? 5“aWe remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, 6but now aour 1appetite is dried up. There is nothing at all 2to look at except this manna.”
7aNow the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bbdellium. 8The people would go about and gather it and grind it 1between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of 2cakes baked with oil. 9aAnd when the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall 1with it.
Moses Complains
10Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of Yahweh was kindled greatly, and it was evil in the sight of Moses. 11aSo Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have You 1allowed this evil toward Your slave? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? 12“Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who gave birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a 1,anurse carries a nursing baby, to the land which bYou swore to their fathers’? 13“Where am I to get meat to give to aall this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ 14“aI alone am not able to carry all this people because it is too heavy for me. 15“aSo if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”
The Spirit Rests upon the Elders
16Yahweh therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me aseventy men from the elders of Israel, bwhom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers, and take them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17“aThen I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of bthe Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone. 18“And say to the people, ‘aSet yourselves apart as holy for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept bin the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For it was good for us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19‘You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 201but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because ayou have rejected Yahweh who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever go out from Egypt?”’” 21But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22“Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?” 23And Yahweh said to Moses, “Is aYahweh’s 1power limited? Now you shall see whether bMy word will happen for you or not.”
24So Moses went out and atold the people the words of Yahweh. Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. 25aThen Yahweh came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.
26But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the 1other Medad. And athe Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. 27So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28Then aJoshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “bMoses, my lord, restrain them.” 29But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? aWould that all the people of Yahweh were prophets, that Yahweh would put His Spirit upon them!” 30Then Moses 1returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.
The Quail and the Plague
31aNow there went forth a wind from Yahweh, and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp and 1about two 2cubits over the surface of the ground. 32And the people 1spent all day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered 2ten ahomers), and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33aWhile the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of Yahweh was kindled against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very severe plague. 34So the name of that place was called 1,aKibroth-hattaavah because there they buried the people who had been greedy. 35From Kibroth-hattaavah athe people set out for Hazeroth, and they 1remained at Hazeroth.
Miriam and Aaron Speak Against Moses
12Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken as a wife (for he had taken a aCushite woman); 2aand they said, “Has Yahweh indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And Yahweh heard it. 3(Now the man Moses was avery humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) 4Suddenly Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. 5aThen Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called 1Aaron and Miriam. And then both came forward, 6and He said, “Hear now My words:If there is a prophet among you,I, Yahweh, shall make Myself known to him in a avision.I shall speak with him in a bdream.
7“Not so, with aMy servant Moses,bHe is faithful in all My household;8aWith him I speak mouth to mouth,Indeed clearly, and not in riddles,And he beholds bthe form of Yahweh.Why then were you not afraidTo speak against My servant, against Moses?”9So the anger of Yahweh burned against them, and aHe went away. 10But the cloud withdrew from over the tent, and behold, aMiriam was leprous, as bwhite as snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, ado not place this sin on us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12“Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!” 13And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, “O God, aheal her, I pray!” 14But Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but aspit in her face, would she not bear her dishonor for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days boutside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.” 15So aMiriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was received again.
16Afterward, however, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.