The Bread from Heaven

²² On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except ^[a]that one ^[b]which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone— ²³ however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— ²⁴ when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, ^(A)seeking Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ^27 (B)Do not labor for the food which perishes, but ^(C)for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, ^(D)because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

²⁸ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, ^(E)“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

³⁰ Therefore they said to Him, ^(F)“What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? ^31 (G)Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ^(H)‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³² Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but ^(I)My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

^34 (J)Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ And Jesus said to them, ^(K)“I am the bread of life. ^(L)He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never ^(M)thirst. ^36 (N)But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet ^(O)do not believe. ^37 (P)All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and ^(Q)the one who comes to Me I will ^[c]by no means cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, ^(R)not to do My own will, ^(S)but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of the Father who sent Me, ^(T)that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, ^(U)that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The People Complain

11 Now ^(A)when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; ^(B)for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the ^(C)fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. ² Then the people ^(D)cried out to Moses, and when Moses ^(E)prayed to the Lord, the fire was ^[a]quenched. ³ So he called the name of the place ^[b]Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.

⁴ Now the ^(F)mixed multitude who were among them ^[c]yielded to ^(G)intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: ^(H)“Who will give us meat to eat? ^5 (I)We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; ⁶ but now ^(J)our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

⁷ Now ^(K)the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. ⁸ The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and ^(L)its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. ⁹ And ^(M)when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.

¹⁰ Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and ^(N)the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. ^11 (O)So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the ^[d]burden of all these people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ^(P)‘Carry them in your bosom, as a ^(Q)guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You ^(R)swore^[e] to their fathers? ^13 (S)Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ ^14 (T)I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and ^(U)do not let me see my wretchedness!”

The Seventy Elders

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me ^(V)seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and ^(W)officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. ¹⁷ Then I will come down and talk with you there. ^(X)I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. ¹⁸ Then you shall say to the people, ^[f]‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept ^(Y)in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will 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 eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, ^20 (Z)but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have ^(AA)despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, ^(AB)“Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”

²¹ And Moses said, ^(AC)“The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ ^22 (AD)Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”

²³ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AE)“Has^[g] the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether ^(AF)what I say will happen to you or not.”

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he ^(AG)gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, ^(AH)when the Spirit rested upon them, that ^(AI)they prophesied, ^[h]although they never did so again.

²⁶ But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who ^(AJ)had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet 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 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, ^(AK)forbid them!”

²⁹ Then Moses said to him, “Are you ^[i]zealous for my sake? ^(AL)Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” ³⁰ And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

The Lord Sends Quail

³¹ Now a ^(AM)wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. ³² And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten ^(AN)homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ³³ But while the ^(AO)meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. ³⁴ So he called the name of that place ^[j]Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.

^35 (AP)From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth.