Numbers 11

1 And [when] the people complained, it displeased the LORD; and the LORD heard [it]: and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed [them that were] in the uttermost parts of the camp.
2 And the people cried to Moses; and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched.
3 And he called the name of the place Taberah; because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
4 And the mixed multitude that [was] among them fell to lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
5 We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt freely: the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:
6 But now our soul [is] dried away; [there is] nothing at all, besides this manna, [before] our eyes.
7 And the manna [was] as coriander-seed, and the color of it as the color of bdellium.
8 [And] the people went about, and gathered [it] and ground [it] in mills, or beat [it] in a mortar, and baked [it] in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly: Moses also was displeased.
11 And Moses said to the LORD, Why hast thou afflicted thy servant? and why have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
12 Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say to me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father beareth the sucking child, to the land which thou sworest to their fathers?
13 Whence should I have flesh to give to all this people? for they weep to me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because [it is] too heavy for me.
15 And if thou dealest thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
16 And the LORD said to Moses, Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them to the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.
17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which [is] upon thee, and will put [it] upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou mayest not bear it thyself alone.
18 And say thou to the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for [it was] well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.
19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20 [But] even a whole month, until it shall come out at your nostrils, and it be lothsome to you; because ye have despised the LORD who [is] among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
21 And Moses said, The people among whom I [am], [are] six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
22 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice for them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered for them, to suffice for them?
23 And the LORD said to Moses, Is the LORD'S hand shortened? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass to thee, or not.
24 And Moses went out, and told 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] upon him, and gave [it] to the seventy elders: and it came to pass, [that] when the spirit rested upon them; they prophesied, and did not cease.
26 But there remained two [of the] men in the camp, the name of the one [was] Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them, and they [were] of them that were described, but went not out to the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, [one] of his young men, answered and said, My lord, Moses, forbid them.
29 And Moses said to him, Enviest thou for my sake? I would that all the LORD'S people were prophets, [and] that the LORD would put his spirit upon them.
30 And Moses withdrew into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let [them] fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and as it were two cubits [high] upon the face of the earth.
32 And the people stood up all that day, and all [that] night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread [them] all abroad for themselves around the camp.
33 And while the flesh [was] yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.
34 And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.
35 [And] the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah to Hazeroth: and abode at Hazeroth.

Numbers 11 Commentaries

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