⁴³ And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as listed were 22,273.

⁴⁴ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^45 (A)“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. ⁴⁶ And ^(B)as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, ⁴⁷ you shall take ^(C)five shekels^[a] per head; you shall take them according to ^(D)the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs^[b]), ⁴⁸ and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.” ⁴⁹ So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites.

^12 (A)All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, ^(B)the firstfruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you. ¹³ The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, ^(C)which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. ^(D)Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. ^14 (E)Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. ^15 (F)Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours. Nevertheless, ^(G)the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶ And their redemption price ^(H)(at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels^[a] in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, ^(I)which is twenty gerahs. ^17 (J)But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸ But their flesh shall be yours, as ^(K)the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. ^19 (L)All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. ^(M)It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.” ²⁰ And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. ^(N)I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

The People Complain

11 And ^(A)the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, ^(B)his anger was kindled, and ^(C)the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. ² Then ^(D)the people cried out to Moses, ^(E)and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. ³ So the name of that place was called ^(F)Taberah,^[a] because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴ Now the ^(G)rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also ^(H)wept again and said, ^(I)“Oh that we had meat to eat! ^5 (J)We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶ But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

⁷ Now ^(K)the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. ^8 (L)The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. ^(M)And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. ^9 (N)When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

¹⁸ And say to the people, ^(A)‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? ^(B)For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹ You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰ but a whole month, ^(C)until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, ^(D)“Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” ²¹ But Moses said, ^(E)“The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ ^22 (F)Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” ²³ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(G)“Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether ^(H)my word will come true for you or not.”

Quail and a Plague

³¹ Then a ^(A)wind from the Lord sprang up, 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, around the camp, and about two cubits^[a] above the ground. ³² And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten ^(B)homers.^[b] And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ^33 (C)While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and ^(D)the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. ³⁴ Therefore the name of that place was called ^(E)Kibroth-hattaavah,^[c] because there they buried the people who had the craving. ^35 (F)From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to ^(G)Hazeroth, and they remained at ^(H)Hazeroth.