Numbers 11
1And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some that were in the outlying parts of the camp.
2And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.
3And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burned among them.
4And the mixed multitude that was among them had a strong craving: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
5We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:
6But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes.
7And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium.
8And the people went about, 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.
9And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
10Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.
11And Moses said unto 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 this people upon me?
12Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that you should say unto me,
Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse bears the nursing child,
unto the land which you swore to give unto their fathers?
13From where should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
14I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15And if you deal thus with me, kill me, I pray you, out of hand, if I have found favor in your sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
16And the LORD said unto Moses,
Gather unto 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 unto the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17And I will come down and talk with you there: and I will take some of the spirit which is upon you, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it not yourself alone.
18And say unto the people, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh: for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and you shall eat.
19You shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20But even a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it becomes loathsome unto you: because that you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
21And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and you have said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
22Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
23And the LORD said unto Moses,
Is the LORD'S hand shortened? you shall see now whether my word shall come to pass unto you or not.
24And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.
25And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spoke unto him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
26But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were listed, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
27And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
29And Moses said unto him, Are you jealous for my sake? would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!
30And Moses returned into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quail from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits high above the face of the earth.
32And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quail: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
33And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.
34And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that craved.
35And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.
Commentaries for Numbers 11:0