Numbers 11
Christian Standard Bible
Complaints about Hardship
11 Now the people began complaining openly before[a] the Lord about hardship. When the Lord heard, his anger burned,(A) and fire(B) from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So that place was named Taberah,[b](C) because the Lord’s fire had blazed among them.
Complaints about Food
4 The riffraff[c] among them(D) had a strong craving(E) for other food. The Israelites wept again and said, “Who will feed us meat? 5 We remember the free fish we ate in Egypt,(F) along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now our appetite is gone;[d] there’s nothing to look at but this manna!”
7 The manna(G) resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of bdellium.[e] 8 The people walked around and gathered it. They ground it on a pair of grinding stones or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot and shaped it into cakes. It tasted like a pastry cooked with the finest oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.(H)
10 Moses heard the people, family after family, weeping at the entrance of their tents. The Lord was very angry;(I) Moses was also provoked.[f] 11 So Moses asked the Lord, “Why have you brought such trouble on your servant? Why are you angry with me,[g] and why do you burden me with all these people?(J) 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so you should tell me, ‘Carry them at your breast, as a nursing mother carries a baby,’(K) to the land that you swore to give their ancestors?(L) 13 Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are weeping to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I can’t carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me. 15 If you are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now(M) if I have found favor with you, and(N) don’t let me see my misery[h] anymore.”
Seventy Elders Anointed
16 The Lord answered Moses, “Bring me seventy men from Israel known to you as elders and officers of the people. Take them to the tent of meeting and have them stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit who is on you and put the Spirit on them.(O) They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.(P)
18 “Tell the people: Consecrate yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you wept in the Lord’s hearing, ‘Who will feed us meat? We were better off in Egypt.’ The Lord will give you meat and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and wept before him, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” (Q)
21 But Moses replied, “I’m in the middle of a people with six hundred thousand foot soldiers,(R) yet you say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ 22 If flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” (S)
23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm weak?[i](T) Now you will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you.”
24 Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He brought seventy men from the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him.(U) He took some of the Spirit who was on Moses and placed the Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied,(V) but they never did it again. 26 Two men had remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad; the Spirit rested on them—they were among those listed, but had not gone out to the tent—and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 Joshua son of Nun, assistant to Moses since his youth,[j] responded, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
29 But Moses asked him, “Are you jealous on my account?(W) If only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place his Spirit on them!” 30 Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel.
Quail in the Camp
31 A wind sent by the Lord(X) came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them all around the camp. They were flying three feet[k] off[l] the ground for about a day’s journey in every direction.(Y) 32 The people were up all that day and night and all the next day gathering the quail—the one who took the least gathered sixty bushels[m]—and they spread them out all around the camp.[n](Z)
33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord’s anger burned(AA) against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague.(AB) 34 So they named that place Kibroth-hattaavah,[o] because there they buried the people who had craved the meat.
35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth[p](AC) and remained there.
Footnotes
- 11:1 Lit in the ears of
- 11:3 = Blaze
- 11:4 Or The mixed multitude; Hb obscure
- 11:6 Or our lives are wasting away, or our throat is dry
- 11:7 A yellowish, transparent gum resin
- 11:10 Lit and it was evil in the eyes of Moses
- 11:11 Lit Why have I not found favor in your eyes
- 11:15 Alt Hb tradition reads your misery
- 11:23 Lit the Lord’s arm too short
- 11:28 Or Moses, from his elite young men
- 11:31 Lit two cubits
- 11:31 Or They were three feet deep on
- 11:32 Lit 10 homers
- 11:32 To dry or cure the meat; 2Sm 17:19; Ezk 26:5,14
- 11:34 = Graves of Craving
- 11:35 = Settlements; Nm 12:16; 33:16–17
Numbers 11
Modern English Version
Complaints in the Desert
11 Now when the people complained openly before the Lord, the Lord heard, and His anger burned. Then the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 2 And the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was quenched. 3 He called the name of the place Taberah because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
4 The mixed multitude that was among them lusted, and the children of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for free, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our life is dried up. There is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes.”
7 The manna was as coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it, and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked in oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna fell on it.
10 Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the opening of his tent, and the anger of the Lord burned greatly. Moses was also displeased. 11 Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You hurt Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your eyes, that You lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Have I conceived all this people? Have I given them birth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse bears the nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep to me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If You do this to me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your eyes, and do not let me see my misery.”
The Seventy Elders
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, that they may take a stand there with you. 17 And I will come down, and I will speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit which is on you and will put it on them, and they will bear the burden of the people with you, and you will not bear it by yourself.
18 “And say to the people: 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? For it was better for us in Egypt.’ Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall eat, not one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it will be nauseating to you because you rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, ‘Why did we come out of Egypt?’ ”
21 And Moses said, “The people I am with number six hundred thousand foot soldiers, and You have said, ‘I will give them meat that they may eat a whole month.’ 22 Will the flocks and the herds be slaughtered for them, to satisfy them? Or will all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to satisfy them?”
23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the hand of the Lord shortened? Now you will see if My word will happen to you or not.”
24 Moses went out, and he spoke to the people the words of the Lord and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and set them around the tabernacle. 25 And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and gave it to the seventy elders, and when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but did not do it again.
26 But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other, Medad. And the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp.”
28 Then Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, answered and said, “My lord Moses, forbid them.”
29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Oh, that all the people of the Lord 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 wind from the Lord started up, and it swept 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 stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers.[b] And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 While the meat was between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great slaughter. 34 And he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah because there they buried the people who had the craving.
35 The people journeyed from Kibroth Hattaavah to Hazeroth, and they camped at Hazeroth.
Footnotes
- Numbers 11:31 About 3 feet, or 90 centimeters.
- Numbers 11:32 Likely about 1¾ tons, or 1.6 metric tons.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.