Beginning

11 In the meantime grouching of the people, as of men sorrowing for travail, rose against the Lord. And when Moses had heard this thing, he was wroth; and the fire of the Lord was kindled upon them, and devoured the last part of the tents. (In the meantime, the grumbling of the people, yea, the people complaining about their travail, or their troubles, rose up against the Lord. And when Moses had heard this, he was very angry; and the Lord’s fire was kindled upon them, and devoured the last part of the camp.)

² And when the people had cried to Moses, Moses prayed [to] the Lord, and the fire was quenched.

³ And he called the name of that place Burning (And they called that place Taberah), for the fire of the Lord was kindled against them (there).

⁴ And the common people of men and women, that had gone up with them, burnt with desire of flesh (burnt with desire for flesh), and they sat, and wept, with the sons of Israel joined together with them, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

⁵ We think upon the fish that we ate in Egypt freely (We remember all the fish that we ate in Egypt); gourds, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic come into our mind(s);

⁶ our soul is dry; our eyes behold none other thing than manna. (but now our bodies be all dried up, and there is nothing to see but this manna!)

⁷ Soothly manna was as the seed of coriander, of the colour of bdellium, which is white, and (as) bright as crystal.

⁸ And the people went about, and gathered it, and brake it with a quernstone, either pounded it in a mortar, and seethed it in a pot (and boiled it in a pot); and made thereof little cakes of the (same) savour as of bread made with oil.

⁹ And when [the] dew came down in the night upon the tents, also manna came down together therewith.

¹⁰ Then Moses heard the people weeping by families, and each of them by the doors of their tents; and the strong vengeance of the Lord was wroth greatly, but also the grouching was seen (as) unsufferable to Moses. (And Moses heard all the people crying with their families, by the entrances to their tents; and the Lord was greatly angered, and provoked to take strong vengeance, and Moses also thought that the grumbling was insufferable.)

¹¹ And he said to the Lord, Why hast thou tormented thy servant? why find I not grace before thee? and why hast thou put the burden of all this people onto me? (And he said to the Lord, Why hast thou so tormented thy servant? why do I not find grace before thee? and why hast thou put the burden of all of these people onto me?)

¹² whether I have conceived all this multitude, either have begotten it, that thou say to me, Bear thou them in thy bosom, as a nurse is wont to bear a little young child, and bear thou this people into the land for the which thou swore to their fathers? (have I conceived all this multitude, or have I begotten them, so that now thou can say to me, Carry thou them in thy bosom, like a nurse is wont to carry about a young child, and carry thou these people into the land for which thou swore to their fathers?)

¹³ whereof be meats to me, that I feed so great a multitude? They weep before me, and say, Give us flesh, that we eat; (where shall I find enough meat, so that I can feed so great a multitude? They weep before me, and say to me, Give us flesh, so that we can eat it;)

¹⁴ I may not alone sustain all this people, for it is grievous to me. (I cannot sustain all these people alone, for this is too heavy a burden for me/for they be too heavy a burden for me.)

¹⁵ If in other manner it seemeth to thee, I beseech thee, that thou slay me, and that I find grace in thine eyes, that I be not punished, or travailed, with so great evils. (If it seemeth to thee otherwise, then I beseech thee, that thou kill me, and so I shall receive grace from thee, and I shall no longer be punished, or travailed, with such great evil.)

¹⁶ And the Lord said to Moses, Gather thou to me seventy men of the elder men of Israel, whom thou knowest to be (the) eld(er) men, and (the) masters of the people; and thou shalt lead them to the door of the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace (and thou shalt bring them to the entrance to the Tabernacle of the Covenant), and thou shalt make them to stand there with thee,

¹⁷ that I come down, and speak to thee; and I shall take away of thy spirit, and I shall give to them, that they sustain with thee the burden of the people, and not thou alone be grieved. (and I shall come down, and speak with thee; and I shall take away some of the spirit that is upon thee, and I shall give it to them, so that they can help sustain the burden of the people along with thee, and so that not only thou be travailed.)

¹⁸ And thou shalt say to the people, Be ye hallowed; tomorrow ye shall eat flesh; for I heard you say, Who shall give us the meats of flesh? it was well to us in Egypt; that the Lord give you flesh, (And thou shalt say to the people, Be ye purified; for tomorrow ye shall eat some flesh; for I heard you say, Who shall give us flesh to eat? yea, it was well with us in Egypt; and so the Lord shall give you flesh to eat,)

¹⁹ and ye (shall) eat (it) not only one day, either twain, either five, either ten, soothly neither twenty days,

²⁰ but till to a month of days, till it go out by your nostrils, and turn into loathing; for by your grouching ye have put away the Lord, which is in the midst of you, and ye wept before him, and said, Why went we out of Egypt? (but for a whole month of days, until it go out of your nostrils, and it turn loathsome to you; for by your grumbling ye have rejected the Lord, who is in the midst of you, and ye have cried before him, and have said, Why did we go out of Egypt?)

²¹ And Moses said to the Lord, Six hundred thousand of footmen be of this people, and thou sayest, I shall give them to eat flesh an whole month. (And Moses said to the Lord, Six hundred thousand footmen be among these people, and thou sayest, I shall give all of them flesh to eat for a whole month?)

²² Whether the multitude of sheep and of oxen shall be able to be slain, that it may suffice (to) this people to meat (that it can suffice for enough food for these people), either whether all the fishes of the sea shall be gathered together, that those [ful]fill them?

²³ To whom the Lord answered, Whether the Lord’s hand is unmighty? right now thou shalt see, whether my word shall be fulfilled in work. (To whom the Lord answered, Is the Lord’s hand unmighty, or without power? thou shalt see right now, if my word shall be fulfilled in work, or not.)

²⁴ Therefore Moses came, and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of Israel, which he made (to) stand about the tabernacle.

²⁵ And the Lord came down by a cloud, and spake to Moses, and took away of the spirit that was in Moses, and gave (it) to the seventy men; and when the spirit had rested in them, they prophesied, and moreover they ceased not. (And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to Moses, and then took away some of the spirit that was on Moses, and gave it to the seventy men; and when the spirit had rested on them, they prophesied, and they did not cease.)

²⁶ Forsooth two men dwelled still in the tents, of which men one was called Eldad, and the tother Medad, on which the spirit rested; for also they were described, or ordained/or chosen, and they went not out to the tabernacle. And when they prophesied in the tents, (But two men still remained in the tents, one of whom was called Eldad, and the other Medad, and the spirit also rested on them; for they were also chosen, but they did not go out to the Tabernacle. And when they prophesied in the tents,)

²⁷ a young man ran, and told to Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad prophesy in the tents.

²⁸ Anon Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, and chosen of many, said, My lord Moses, forbid thou them. (At once Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, and chosen out of many, said, My lord Moses, forbid thou them.)

²⁹ And Moses said, What, hast thou envy for me? who giveth, whether not God, that all the people prophesy, and that God give his spirit to them? (And Moses said, Why, hast thou envy for me? O that God would give his spirit to everyone, and make all the people prophesy!)

³⁰ And Moses turned again, and the elder men in birth of Israel, into the tents. (And then Moses, and the elders of Israel, returned to the camp.)

³¹ Forsooth a wind went forth from the Lord, and it took (hold of a multitude of) curlews, and brought them over the sea, and he left them in the tents, in journey, as much as may be performed in one day, by each part of the tents by compass; and they flew in the air by two cubits in height above the earth. (And a wind went forth from the Lord, and it took hold of a multitude of curlews, or of quails, and brought them over the sea, and it left them about the camp, as much as can be performed in one day’s journey, by each part of the camp all around; and they flew in the air by two cubits in height above the ground.)

³² Therefore the people rose (up) in all that day, and (all) that night, and into the tother day, and gathered a multitude of curlews; he that gathered little, gathered ten cors; and they dried those curlews by compass of the tents (and they dried those quails all around the tents).

³³ Yet (while the) flesh was in their teeth, and such meat failed them not; and lo! the wrath of the Lord was raised against his people, and he smote it with a full great vengeance (and he struck them with a very great plague).

³⁴ And that place was called The Sepulchres of Covetousness, or Lust, for there they buried the people that desired flesh. (And so that place was called Kibrothhattaavah, for they buried the people there who lusted after flesh.)

³⁵ Soothly they went forth from The Sepulchres of Covetousness, or Lust, and came into Hazeroth, and dwelled there. (Then they went forth from Kibrothhattaavah, and came to Hazeroth, and stayed there.)

12 And Marie spake and Aaron against Moses, for his wife (was) a woman of Ethiopia, (And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, for his wife was an Ethiopian woman,)

² and they said, Whether God spake his will only by Moses? whether he spake not also to us in like manner? And when the Lord had heard this, he was wroth greatly (he was greatly angered);

³ for Moses was the mildest man, over all men that dwelled in earth. (for Moses was the humblest man, more humble than any other man who lived upon the face of the earth.)

⁴ And suddenly the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron and to Marie, (and said,) Go out ye three alone to the tabernacle of the bond of peace. And when they were gone in, (And suddenly the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, and said, Ye three go out alone to the Tabernacle of the Covenant. And when they had gone out to it,)

⁵ the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and he stood in the entering of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Marie. And when they had gone forth, (the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and he stood at the entrance to the Tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And when they had come forth,)

⁶ he said to them, Hear ye my words; if any among you is a prophet of the Lord, I shall appear to him in revelation, either I shall speak to him by a dream.

⁷ And he said, And my servant Moses is not such, the which is most faithful in all mine house; (Then he said, But my servant Moses is not such a prophet, for he alone is most faithful in all my household;)

⁸ for I speak to him mouth to mouth, and he seeth God openly, and not by dark speeches, either dark likenesses, and figures. Why therefore dreaded ye not to backbite my servant Moses? (and I speak with him face to face, and he seeth God openly, and not only through riddles. Yea, he hath even seen my form, or my figure! So why do ye not fear to backbite my servant Moses?)

⁹ And the Lord was wroth against them, and he went away.

¹⁰ And the cloud went away, that was on the tabernacle, and lo! Marie appeared shining with leprosy (and lo! Miriam had become leprous), white as snow. And when Aaron beheld her, and saw her besprinkled with leprosy,

¹¹ he said to Moses, My lord, I beseech thee, put thou not this sin upon us, which we did follily (for we acted foolishly),

¹² (and) that this woman be not made as dead, and as a dead born thing that is cast out of the mother’s womb; lo! now the half of her flesh is devoured, or over-covered, with leprosy (lo! now half of her flesh hath been devoured by the leprosy!).

¹³ And Moses cried to the Lord, and said, Lord, I beseech thee, heal thou her.

¹⁴ To whom the Lord answered, If her father had spit into her face, whether she ought not to be full-filled with shame, namely seven days? Therefore be she separated out of the tents by seven days, and afterward she shall be called again (And so let her be set apart from the tents for seven days, and then she shall be called back again).

¹⁵ And so Marie was excluded, or put, out of the tents by seven days; and the people was not moved from that place, till Marie was called again. (And so Miriam was sent away from the tents for seven days; and the people did not move from that place, until Miriam was called back again.)

¹⁶ And the people went forth from Hazeroth, when the tents were set in the desert of Paran. (And then the people went forth from Hazeroth, and pitched their tents in the wilderness of Paran.)

13 And there the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

² Send thou men, that shall behold the land of Canaan, which I shall give to the sons of Israel; of each lineage send thou one man of the princes. (Send thou some men, to look over the land of Canaan, which I shall give to the Israelites; send thou one of the leaders from each tribe.)

³ Moses did that that the Lord commanded, and sent from the desert of Paran (the) princes, (the) men of which these be the names. (Moses did what the Lord commanded, and sent from the wilderness of Paran twelve of their leaders, of which these be their names.)

⁴ Of the lineage of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur.

⁵ Of the lineage of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.

⁶ Of the lineage of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.

⁷ Of the lineage of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.

⁸ Of the lineage of Ephraim, Oshea, the son of Nun. (Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, or Joshua, the son of Nun.)

⁹ Of the lineage of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.

¹⁰ Of the lineage of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.

¹¹ Of the lineage of Joseph, of the generation of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi. (Of the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.)

¹² Of the lineage of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.

¹³ Of the lineage of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael.

¹⁴ Of the lineage of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.

¹⁵ Of the lineage of Gad, Geuel, the son of Machi.

¹⁶ These be the names of [the] men, which Moses sent to behold the land of Canaan; and Moses called Oshea, the son of Nun, Joshua. (These be the names of the men, whom Moses sent to look over the land of Canaan; and Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua.)

¹⁷ Therefore Moses sent them to behold the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go ye up by the south coast; and when ye come [in]to the hills, (And so Moses sent them to look over the land of Canaan, and he said to them, Go ye up by the Negeb, or by the southern part, and when ye come into the hill country,)

¹⁸ behold ye the land, what manner land it is; and behold ye the people which is the dweller thereof, whether it is strong, either feeble, few in number, either many; (look over the land, and see what it is like; and look over the people who live there, whether they be strong, or feeble, and few in number, or many;)

¹⁹ whether that land is good, either evil (or bad); what manner cities be there, walled, either without walls;

²⁰ whether the land is fat, either barren, whether it is full of woods, either without trees. Be ye comforted, and bring ye to us of the fruits of that land. Soothly then the time was, when [the] grapes first ripe might be eaten. (whether the land is fertile, or barren, whether it is full of woods, or without trees. Be ye strengthened, that is, be ye of good courage, and bring ye to us some of the fruits of that land. For it was then the time when the first ripe grapes could be eaten.)

²¹ And when they had gone up, they espied the land, from the desert of Zin till to Rehob, as men enter to Hamath. (And so when they had gone up, they spied out the land, from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as people go to Hamath.)

²² And they went up to the south coast, and came into Hebron, where Ahiman, and Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were; for Hebron was made seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt. (And they went up by the Negeb, or by the southern part, and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, and Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of the giants, were living; for Hebron was built seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt.)

²³ And they went to the strand of [the] cluster, and they cutted down a scion with his grapes, which two men bare with a bearing staff; also they took of [the] pomegranates, and of the figs of that place, (And they went to the Eshcol Valley, and cut down a branch with all of its grapes, which two men had to carry on a carrying bar, or a carrying pole; and they also took pomegranates and figs from that place,)

²⁴ which is called Nahal-eshcol, that is, the strand of (the) grape(s), or the strand of (the) cluster, for the sons of Israel bare a cluster from thence. (which they called Nahal-eshcol, that is, the Eshcol Valley, or the Valley of the Cluster of Grapes, for the Israelites carried a cluster of grapes from there.)

²⁵ And the spyers of the land [turned again], when they had compassed all the country(side), after forty days (And the spies returned, when they had gone about all the countryside, yea, after forty days)

²⁶ they came to Moses and Aaron, and to all the company of the sons of Israel, into the desert of Paran, which is in Kadesh. And the spyers spake to them, and showed the fruits of the land to all the multitude, (they came back to Moses and Aaron, and to all the company of the Israelites, at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. And the spies spoke to them, and to all the multitude, and showed them the fruits of the land,)

²⁷ and they told, and said (and they spoke to Moses, and said), We came to the land, to which thou sentest us, which land truly floweth with milk and honey, as it may be known by these fruits;

²⁸ but it hath most strong dwellers, and great cities, and walled (but it hath very strong inhabitants, and great walled cities); we saw there the kindred of (the) Anakim, that is, (of the) giants;

²⁹ Amalek dwelleth there in the south; Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the hilly places; forsooth Canaanites dwell beside the sea, and beside the floods of Jordan. (and the Amalekites live there in the south; and the Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea, and along the Jordan River.)

³⁰ Among these things, or sayings, Caleb peaced the grouching of the people, that was made against Moses, and said, Go we up, and wield we the land, for we be able to get it. (Then after these words, Caleb tried to calm the grumbling of the people, and said, No matter! We shall go up, and take the land, for we be well able to get it.)

³¹ Soothly the other spyers, that were with him, said, We be not able to go up to this people, for it is stronger than we. (But the other spies who went with him said, We shall not be able to go up against these people, for they all be stronger than us!)

³² And they spake evil of the land which they had beheld, to the sons of Israel, and said, The land that we compassed devoureth his dwellers; the people that we beheld is of large stature; (And so, they gave a bad report about the land which they had seen, to the Israelites, and said, The land which we went about shall eat up anyone who shall go there to live; and the people, who we saw there, be of very large stature;)

³³ there we saw some wonders against kind, of the sons of Anak, of the kind of giants, to which we were comparisoned, and were seen as locusts. (yea, we saw some wonders against kind there, the sons of Anak, who be giants, and compared to them, we felt as small as locusts, or like grasshoppers.)