⁵ And the people ^(A)spoke against God and against Moses, ^(B)“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and ^(C)we loathe this worthless food.”

⁴¹ But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel ^(A)grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.”

¹³ Is it ^(A)a small thing that you have brought us up out of ^(B)a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also ^(C)make yourself a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”

^2 (A)Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ^(B)test the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and ^(C)the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

¹² And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people ^(A)wept that night. ² And all the people of Israel ^(B)grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or ^(C)would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? ^(D)Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to one another, ^(E)“Let us choose a leader and ^(F)go back to Egypt.”

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.

² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel ^(A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(B)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(C)when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”