Numbers 11
EasyEnglish Bible
The people complain
11 But the people started to complain about their problems.[a] The Lord heard them and he became very angry. He sent fire. The Lord sent his fire to burn among them. It destroyed some parts of the camp at the edge. 2 So the people asked Moses to help them. And Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire stopped. 3 So that place was called Taberah, because the Lord's fire burned among them there.
4 Some foreign people were travelling with the Israelites.[b] Those people wanted very much to eat better food. So the Israelites wept again. They said, ‘We want meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt. We had as much as we wanted. And we remember all the nice vegetables, cucumbers, leeks, onions and garlic. And we remember the melons. 6 But now our mouths are dry and we do not want to eat this food. There is not even anything to look at, except this manna.’ 7 The manna was like small seeds called coriander. Its colour was yellow and white. 8 The people walked about and they picked it up from the ground. They used stones to make it into flour. Or they beat it with a stick. They boiled it in pots, and they made cakes with it. The taste of the cakes was like olive oil. 9 At night, dew fell on the ground in the camp. The manna fell with the dew.
10 People in every family were crying at the doors of their tents. And Moses heard them. The Lord became very angry with the people. Moses too was not happy. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, ‘I am your servant. But you have given this problem to me! It seems that you are not pleased with me. You have given to me the hard job to be leader of all these people. 12 They are not my children! But you have said to me, “Take care of them like parents take care of their babies. Carry them to the land that I have promised to their ancestors.” 13 They are complaining to me. They are saying, “Give us meat that we can eat!” But I cannot get meat to feed all these people! 14 I cannot be the leader of all these people unless I receive help. This job is too difficult for me. 15 So if you do not want to help me, please kill me now. I do not want to continue to be so upset. So please be kind to me.’
16 So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Choose 70 leaders of the Israelites and bring them to the Tent of Meeting. You must know that they are leaders and officers that the people respect. Bring them to stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and I will speak with you there. I will take some of the authority of my Spirit that I gave to you. I will share it with them. Then they will help you to lead the people. So you will not be the only man who is doing that job.
18 Then say to the people, “The Lord heard you when you were weeping. You said, ‘We want someone to give us meat to eat! Life was better when we were in Egypt.’ So the Lord will give you meat and you will eat it. So make yourselves clean for tomorrow, and then you will eat meat. 19 You will not eat it only for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or 20 days. 20 You will eat it every day for a whole month! You will hate the smell of it and it will seem disgusting to you. This is because you have turned against the Lord. He is near to you and you have wept in front of him. You have said, ‘We should never have left Egypt.’ ” ’
21 Moses said to the Lord, ‘There are 600,000 men here. But you have said, “I will give to them meat to eat for a whole month.” 22 Even if we killed all our sheep and cows, we would not have enough meat for them. If we caught every fish in the sea, we still would not have enough!’
23 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Do you think that I, the Lord, do not have enough power to do this? I have promised you to do it. So now you will see me do it!’
24 So Moses went out from God's Tent and he told the people the Lord's message. He chose 70 leaders of the Israelites and he put them round the Tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud to speak to them. He took some of the authority of his Spirit that he had given to Moses. And he shared it with the 70 leaders. While God's Spirit stayed on them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again after that.
26 But two men had stayed in the camp. Their names were Eldad and Medad. They were among the men that Moses had chosen. But they had not gone to meet with God in the special Tent. God's Spirit also came on them. So they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran to Moses and he said, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’
28 Nun's son Joshua was there. Since he was a boy, he had been Moses' servant. Joshua said to Moses, ‘Moses, my master, stop them.’
29 But Moses said to him, ‘Perhaps you think that I might be jealous of them. But I would be happy if the Lord would give his Spirit to all his people. I would like them all to be prophets!’ 30 Then Moses and the leaders returned to the camp.
The Lord sends birds to feed the Israelites
31 Then the Lord sent a wind. It blew in birds called quails from the sea. They fell to the ground everywhere round the camp. There were birds everywhere as far as a person could walk in one day in any direction. They were about 1 metre deep all over the ground. 32 The people were picking up the birds all day and all night and all the next day. Each person got at least 220 litres of birds. They put their dead bodies on the ground everywhere round the camp. 33 But the Lord became very angry with the people. They had not even started to eat the meat when the Lord sent a very bad disease among them.
34 They buried there the bodies of people who had wanted better food. So the people called that place Kibroth-Hattaavah.[c]
35 From Kibroth-Hattaavah the people travelled to Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.
Footnotes
- 11:1 The Israelites had travelled for three days only. But already they had begun to complain.
- 11:4 When the Israelites left Egypt, some foreign people came with them. We do not know why these foreign people came with them. Perhaps some of them were slaves.
- 11:34 That means ‘graves of greedy people’.
Numbers 11
New American Standard Bible
The People Complain
11 Now the people became like (A)those who complain of adversity (B)in the ears of the Lord; and the Lord heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp. 2 (C)The people then cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire [a]died out. 3 So that place was named [b](D)Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
4 Now the (E)rabble who were among them [c]had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “(F)Who will give us [d]meat to eat? 5 (G)We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now (H)our [e]appetite is gone. There is nothing at all [f]to look at except this manna!”
7 (I)Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of [g](J)bdellium. 8 The people would roam about and gather it and grind it [h]between two millstones, or pound it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make loaves with it; and its taste was like the taste of [i]cake baked with oil. 9 (K)When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna would come down [j]with it.
The Complaint of Moses
10 Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each one at the entrance of his tent; and the anger of the Lord became very hot, and [k]Moses was displeased. 11 (L)So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You [l]been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have put the burden of all this people on me? 12 Was it I who conceived all this people? Or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them [m]in your arms, as a [n](M)nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which (N)You swore to their fathers’? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to (O)all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat so that we may eat!’ 14 (P)I am not able to carry all this people by myself, because it is too [o]burdensome for me. 15 (Q)So if You are going to deal with me this way, please kill me now, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my misery.”
Seventy Elders to Assist Moses
16 The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me (R)seventy men from the elders of Israel, (S)whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their stand there with you. 17 (T)Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of (U)the Spirit who is upon you, and put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it by yourself. 18 And you shall say to the people, ‘(V)Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept (W)in the ears of the Lord, saying, “[p]Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off 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 [q]but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nose and [r]makes you nauseated; because (X)you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” 21 But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am included, are six hundred thousand on foot! Yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22 Are flocks and herds to be slaughtered for them, so that it will be sufficient for them? Or are all the fish of the sea to be [s]caught for them, so that it will be sufficient for them?” 23 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Is (Y)the Lord’s [t]power too little? Now you shall see whether (Z)My word will [u]come true for you or not.”
24 So Moses went out and (AA)told the people the words of the Lord. He also gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and positioned them around the tent. 25 (AB)Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took away some of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. Yet they did not do it again.
26 But two men had remained in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the [v]other, Medad. And (AC)the Spirit rested upon them (and they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. 27 So a young man ran and informed Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 Then (AD)Joshua the son of Nun, the personal servant of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “(AE)My lord Moses, restrain them!” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? (AF)If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” 30 Then Moses [w]returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.
The Quail and the Plague
31 (AG)Now a wind burst forth from the Lord and it brought quail from the sea, and dropped them beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side all around the camp, and about [x]two cubits deep on the surface of the ground. 32 And the people [y]spent all that day, all night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered [z]ten (AH)homers) and spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 (AI)While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague. 34 So that place was named [aa](AJ)Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah (AK)the people set out for Hazeroth, and they [ab]remained at Hazeroth.
Footnotes
- Numbers 11:2 Lit sank down
- Numbers 11:3 I.e., the place for burning
- Numbers 11:4 Lit desired a desire
- Numbers 11:4 Lit flesh, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 11:6 Lit soul has dried up
- Numbers 11:6 Lit for our eyes
- Numbers 11:7 I.e., a tree gum
- Numbers 11:8 Lit with
- Numbers 11:8 Lit juice of oil
- Numbers 11:9 Lit on
- Numbers 11:10 Lit it was evil in Moses’ eyes
- Numbers 11:11 Lit treated badly
- Numbers 11:12 Lit against your chest
- Numbers 11:12 Or foster father
- Numbers 11:14 Lit heavy
- Numbers 11:18 Or Who will give...?
- Numbers 11:20 Lit until a
- Numbers 11:20 Lit becomes nausea to you
- Numbers 11:22 Lit gathered
- Numbers 11:23 Lit hand too short
- Numbers 11:23 Lit happen to you
- Numbers 11:26 Lit second
- Numbers 11:30 Lit withdrew to
- Numbers 11:31 About 3 ft. or 90 cm
- Numbers 11:32 Lit arose
- Numbers 11:32 About 77 cubic feet or 2.2 cubic meters
- Numbers 11:34 I.e., the graves of greediness
- Numbers 11:35 Lit were
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