Numbers 11
Expanded Bible
Fire from the Lord
11 Now the people complained ·to [L in the ears of] the Lord about their troubles, and when he heard them, he became angry. Then fire from the Lord burned ·among the people at the edge [L on the outskirts] of the camp. 2 The people cried out to Moses, and when he prayed to the Lord, the fire stopped burning. 3 So that place was called Taberah [C “Burning”; Deut. 9:22], because the Lord’s fire had burned among them.
Seventy Elders Help Moses
4 Some ·troublemakers [rabble; foreign elements] among them wanted better food, and soon all the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] began ·complaining [L weeping]. They said, “We want meat! 5 We remember the fish we ate for free in Egypt. We also had cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our ·appetite [or vitality; strength]; we never see anything but this manna [Ex. 16:1–36]!”
7 The manna was like ·small white seeds [L coriander seed and its color was like bdellium/gum resin]. 8 The people would go to gather it, and then grind it in handmills, or crush it ·between stones [with mortars]. After they ·cooked [or boiled] it in a pot or made cakes with it, it tasted like ·bread [cakes] baked with olive oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp each night, so did the manna.
10 Moses heard every ·family [clan] ·crying [weeping] as they stood in the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and ·Moses got upset [L it was bad in the eyes of Moses]. 11 He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought me, your servant, this trouble? ·What have I done wrong [L Why have I not found favor in your eyes] that you ·made me responsible [L set the burden on me] for all these people? 12 ·I am not the father of [L Did I conceive/Am I the mother of] all these people, and ·I didn’t [L did I…?] give birth to them. So why do you make me carry them to the land you promised to our ancestors? Must I carry them in my ·arms [L bosom] as a nurse carries a baby? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep crying to me, ‘We want meat!’ 14 I can’t take care of all these people alone. It is too ·much [difficult; L heavy] for me. 15 If you are going to continue doing this to me, then kill me now. If ·you care about me [L I have found favor in your eyes], put me to death, and ·then I won’t have [L do not let me see] any more troubles.”
16 The Lord said to Moses, “·Bring [L Gather for] me seventy of Israel’s elders, men that you know are leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent, and have them stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit [C that enables Moses to do his work] that is in you, and I will ·give it to [or put it on] them. They will ·help you care for the people [L bear the burden of the people with you] so that you will not have to ·care for them [L bear it] alone.
18 “Tell the people this: ‘·Make yourselves holy [Consecrate yourselves; C in a ritual sense] for tomorrow, and you will eat meat. You cried ·to the [L in the ears of the] Lord, “·We want meat [L If only we had meat to eat]! We were better off in Egypt!” So now the Lord will give you meat to eat. 19 You will eat it not for just one, two, five, ten, or even twenty days, 20 but you will eat that meat for a whole month. You will eat it until it comes out your nose, and you will grow to ·hate [loathe] it. This is because you have rejected the Lord, who is with you. You have cried to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”
21 Moses said, “Lord, here are six hundred thousand people ·standing [L on foot] around me, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a month!’ 22 If we ·killed [slaughtered] all the flocks and herds, ·that would not be [L would there be…?] enough. If we caught all the fish in the sea, ·that would not be [L would there be…?] enough.”
23 But the Lord said to Moses, “·Do you think I’m weak [L Is the hand of the Lord too short]? Now you will see if ·I can do what I say [L the words I spoke to you come true or not].”
24 So Moses went out to the people and told them ·what the Lord had said [L the words of the Lord]. He gathered seventy of the elders together and had them stand around the Tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud [C representing God’s presence] and spoke to Moses. The Lord took some of the Spirit Moses had, and he ·gave it to [or put it on] the seventy leaders. ·With the Spirit in [L When the Spirit rested on] them, they prophesied, but just that one time [C as evidence that they had the Spirit; 1 Sam. 10:6–13; 19:18–24].
26 Two men named Eldad and Medad were also ·listed as leaders [L registered; enrolled], but they did not go to the Tent. They stayed in the camp, but the Spirit was also ·given to [or rested on] them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran to Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 Joshua son of Nun said, “Moses, my ·master [lord], stop them!” (·Ever since he was a young boy [or One of his chosen men], Joshua ·had been [or was] Moses’ assistant [Ex. 17:8; 24:13; 32:17; 33:7–11].)
29 But Moses answered, “Are you jealous for me? I wish all the Lord’s people could prophesy. I wish the Lord would give his Spirit to all of them [Joel 2:28–29; Acts 2:16–21; 1 Cor. 12:27–31; 14:1–5]!” 30 Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp.
The Lord Sends Quail
31 ·The Lord sent a strong wind [L Then a wind went out from the Lord] from the sea, and it blew quail into the area all around the camp. The quail were about ·three feet [L two cubits] deep on the ground, and there were quail a day’s walk in any direction [Ex. 16:13; Ps. 78:26–31]. 32 The people went out and gathered quail all that day, that night, and the next day. Everyone gathered at least ·sixty bushels [L ten homers], and they spread them around the camp. 33 But the Lord became very angry, and he ·gave the people a terrible sickness [L struck the people with a terrible plague] that came while the meat was still ·in their mouths [L between their teeth]. 34 So the people named that place Kibroth Hattaavah [C Graves of Wanting/Craving], because there they buried those who ·wanted [craved] other food.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people went to stay at Hazeroth.
Bamidbar 11
Orthodox Jewish Bible
11 And when the people complained, it displeased Hashem; Hashem heard it; His anger was kindled; and the Eish Hashem burned among them, and consumed them that were at the edge of the machaneh.
2 And the people cried unto Moshe; and when Moshe davened unto Hashem, the eish was quenched.
3 He called shem hamakom Taverah because the Eish Hashem burned among them.
4 And the rabble that was among them fell a-lusting; and the Bnei Yisroel also wept again, and said, If only we had basar to eat!
5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Mitzrayim at no cost; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
6 But now our nefesh is dried up; there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes.
7 And the manna was like coriander seed, and the color thereof like the color of white gum resin.
8 And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in handmills, or crushed it in the mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes prepared of shemen.
9 And when the dew fell upon the machaneh in the lailah, the manna fell with it.
10 Then Moshe heard the people wailing throughout their mishpekhot, every man in the entrance of his ohel; and the anger of Hashem was kindled greatly; Moshe also was displeased.
11 And Moshe said unto Hashem, Why hast Thou afflicted Thy eved? And why have I not found chen (favor) in Thy sight, that Thou layest the massa (burden) of all this people upon me?
12 Have I conceived all this people? Have I fathered them, that Thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as the one nursing beareth the nursing infant, unto the land which Thou didst swear unto their avot?
13 Where should I get basar to give unto all this people? For they wail unto me, saying, Give us basar, that we may eat.
14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, please, at once, if I have found chen in Thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
16 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Gather unto Me seventy men of the Zekenim of Yisroel, whom thou knowest to be the Ziknei HaAm, and officers over them; and bring them unto the Ohel Moed, that they may stand there with thee.
17 And I will come down and speak with thee there; and I will take of the Ruach [Hakodesh] that is upon thee, and will put [Him] upon them; and they shall bear the massa HaAm (burden of the People) with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
18 And say thou unto the people, Set yourselves apart as kodesh against tomorrow, and ye shall eat basar; for ye have wept in the ears of Hashem, saying, Who shall give us basar to eat? For it was well with us in Mitzrayim; therefore Hashem will give you basar, and ye shall eat.
19 Lo (not) ye shall eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20 But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you; because that meastem (ye have rejected) Hashem Who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, Why came we forth out of Mitzrayim?
21 And Moshe said, The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 men on foot; and Thou hast said, I will give them basar, that they may eat a whole month.
22 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? Or shall all the dag (fish) of the yam be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
23 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Is the Yad Hashem cut short (i.e., limited in power)? Thou shalt see now whether My Devar shall come to pass unto thee or not.
24 And Moshe went out, and told HaAm the divrei Hashem, and gathered the seventy men of the Ziknei HaAm, and set them round about the Ohel [Moed].
25 And Hashem came down in an Anan, and spoke unto him, and took of the Ruach [Hakodesh] that was upon him, and gave [Him] unto the seventy Zekenim; and it came to pass, that, when the Ruach [Hakodesh] rested upon them, they prophesied, but did not continue. [See Shmuel Alef 10:6; 19:24; Ac 19:6]
26 But there remained two of the anashim in the machaneh, the shem of the one was Eldad, and the shem of the other Medad: and the Ruach [Hakodesh] rested upon them; and they were of them that were listed, but went not out unto the Ohel [Moed]; and they prophesied in the machaneh.
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moshe, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the machaneh.
28 And Yehoshua Ben Nun, the mesharet Moshe, one of his chosen young men, answered and said, Moshe adoni, forbid them.
29 And Moshe said unto him, Are you jealous for my sake? If only kol Am Hashem were neviim, and that Hashem would put His Ruach upon them [see Yoel 2:28 (3:1)]!
30 And Moshe went back to the machaneh, he and the Ziknei Yisroel.
31 And there went forth a wind from Hashem, it drove in quail from the yam, brought them down over the machaneh at a height of two cubits from the ground for the distance of a day’s journey all around the machaneh.
32 And the people stood up all that yom, and kol halailah, and all the next day, and they gathered in the quail; he that gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all out for themselves round about the machaneh.
33 And while the basar was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of Hashem was kindled against the people, and Hashem struck down the people with a makkah rabbah me’od (a very great plague).
34 And the shem of that place was called Kivrothataavah (graves of greed) because there they buried the people that lusted.
35 And the people set out from Kivrot-hataavah unto Chatzerot; and abode at Chatzerot.
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