Departure from Sinai

¹¹ Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud ^(A)was taken up from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. ¹² And the children of Israel set out from the ^(B)Wilderness of Sinai on ^(C)their journeys; then the cloud settled down in the ^(D)Wilderness of Paran. ¹³ So they started out for the first time ^(E)according to the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

¹⁷ Whenever the cloud ^(A)was ^[a]taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents. ¹⁸ At the ^[b]command of the Lord the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; ^(B)as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel ^(C)kept the charge of the Lord and did not journey. ²⁰ So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the Lord they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the Lord they would journey. ²¹ So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. ²² Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel ^(D)would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. ²³ At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed; they ^(E)kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

¹⁴ The ^[a]standard of the camp of the children of Judah ^(A)set out first according to their armies; over their army was ^(B)Nahshon the son of Amminadab. ¹⁵ Over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. ¹⁶ And over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁷ Then ^(C)the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set out, ^(D)carrying the tabernacle.

¹⁸ And ^(E)the standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their armies; over their army was Elizur the son of Shedeur. ¹⁹ Over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ²⁰ And over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

²¹ Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the ^(F)holy things. (The tabernacle would be ^[b]prepared for their arrival.)

²² And ^(G)the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out according to their armies; over their army was Elishama the son of Ammihud. ²³ Over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ²⁴ And over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

²⁵ Then ^(H)the standard of the camp of the children of Dan (the rear guard of all the camps) set out according to their armies; over their army was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶ Over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. ²⁷ And over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.

^28 (I)Thus was the order of march of the children of Israel, according to their armies, when they began their journey.

²⁹ Now Moses said to ^(J)Hobab the son of ^(K)Reuel^[c] the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ^(L)‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and ^(M)we will treat you well; for ^(N)the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”

³⁰ And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives.”

³¹ So Moses said, “Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can ^[d]be our ^(O)eyes. ³² And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that ^(P)whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.”

³³ So they departed from ^(Q)the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(R)went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. ³⁴ And ^(S)the cloud of the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp.

³⁵ So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said:

³⁶ And when it rested, he said:

The People Complain

11 Now ^(U)when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; ^(V)for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the ^(W)fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. ² Then the people ^(X)cried out to Moses, and when Moses ^(Y)prayed to the Lord, the fire was ^[e]quenched. ³ So he called the name of the place ^[f]Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.

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

⁷ Now ^(AE)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 ^(AF)its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. ⁹ And ^(AG)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 ^(AH)the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. ^11 (AI)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 ^[h]burden of all these people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ^(AJ)‘Carry them in your bosom, as a ^(AK)guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You ^(AL)swore^[i] to their fathers? ^13 (AM)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 (AN)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 ^(AO)do not let me see my wretchedness!”

The Seventy Elders

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me ^(AP)seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and ^(AQ)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. ^(AR)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, ^[j]‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept ^(AS)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 (AT)but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have ^(AU)despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, ^(AV)“Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”

²¹ And Moses said, ^(AW)“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 (AX)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, ^(AY)“Has^[k] the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)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, ^(BB)when the Spirit rested upon them, that ^(BC)they prophesied, ^[l]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 ^(BD)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, ^(BE)forbid them!”

²⁹ Then Moses said to him, “Are you ^[m]zealous for my sake? ^(BF)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 ^(BG)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 ^(BH)homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ³³ But while the ^(BI)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 ^[n]Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.

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

Dissension of Aaron and Miriam

12 Then ^(BK)Miriam and Aaron ^[o]spoke ^(BL)against Moses because of the ^[p]Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for ^(BM)he had married an Ethiopian woman. ² So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through ^(BN)Moses? ^(BO)Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord ^(BP)heard it. ³ (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)

^4 (BQ)Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!” So the three came out. ^5 (BR)Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. ⁶ Then He said,

⁹ So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. ¹⁰ And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, ^(CB)suddenly Miriam became ^(CC)leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. ¹¹ So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please ^(CD)do not lay ^[s]this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. ¹² Please ^(CE)do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!”

¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Please ^(CF)heal her, O God, I pray!”

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but ^(CG)spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be ^(CH)shut^[t] out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” ^15 (CI)So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again. ¹⁶ And afterward the people moved from ^(CJ)Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.