New International Reader's Version NIRV
New King James Version NKJV
1 The people weren't happy about the hard times they were having. The LORD heard what they were saying. It made him burn with anger. Then the LORD sent fire on them. It blazed out among the people. It burned up some of the outer edges of the camp.
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Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
2 The people cried out to Moses. Then he prayed to the Lord. And the fire died down.
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Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched.
3 So that place was named Taberah. That's because fire from the LORD had blazed out among them there.
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So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.
4 Some people who were with them began to long for other food. Again the people of Israel began to cry out. They said, "We wish we had meat to eat.
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Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat?
5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt. It didn't cost us anything. We also remember the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.
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We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
6 But now we've lost all interest in eating. We never see anything but this manna!"
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but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!"
7 The manna was like coriander seeds. It looked like sap from a tree.
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Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.
8 The people went around gathering it. Then they ground it in a small mill they held in their hands. Or they crushed it in a stone bowl. They cooked it in a pot. Or they made cakes out of it. It tasted like something made with olive oil.
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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 its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil.
9 When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna also came down.
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And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
10 Moses heard people from every family crying. They were sobbing at the entrances to their tents. The LORD burned with hot anger. So Moses became troubled.
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Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased.
11 He asked the Lord, "Why have you brought this trouble on me? Why aren't you pleased with me? Why have you loaded me down with the troubles of all of these people?
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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 burden of all these people on me?
12 "Am I like a mother to them? Are they my children? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms? Do I have to carry them the way a nurse carries a baby? Do I have to carry them to the land you promised? You took an oath and promised the land to their people of long ago.
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Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which You swore to their fathers?
13 "Where can I get meat for all of these people? They keep crying out to me. They say, 'Give us meat to eat!'
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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 I can't carry all of these people by myself. The load is too heavy for me.
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I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.
15 "Is this how you are going to treat me? If you are pleased with me, just put me to death right now. Don't let me live if I have to see myself destroyed anyway."
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If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now--if I have found favor in Your sight--and do not let me see my wretchedness!"
16 The LORD said to Moses, "Bring me 70 of Israel's elders. Bring men that you know are leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting. I want them to stand there with you.
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So 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; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 I will come down. I will speak with you there. I will take some of my Spirit that is on you. And I will put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the people's load. Then you will not have to carry it alone.
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Then I will come down and talk with you there. 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 "Tell the people, 'Set yourselves apart for tomorrow. At that time you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you cried out. You said, "We wish we had meat to eat. We were better off in Egypt." " 'Now the LORD will give you meat. And you will eat it.
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Then you shall 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 well with us in Egypt." Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.
19 You will not eat it for just one or two days. You will not eat it for just five, ten or 20 days.
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You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
20 Instead, you will eat it for a whole month. You will eat it until it comes out of your nose. You will eat it until you hate it. " 'The LORD is among you. But you have turned your back on him. You have cried out while he was listening. You have said, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" ' "
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but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, "Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?" ' "
21 But Moses said, "Here I am among 600,000 men on the march. And you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month'!
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And Moses said, "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 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were killed for them? Would they have enough even if all of the fish in the ocean were caught for them?"
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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 The LORD answered Moses, "Am I not strong enough? Now you will see whether what I say will come true for you."
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And the Lord said to Moses, "Has the Lord's arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not."
24 So Moses went out. He told the people what the LORD had said. He gathered 70 of their elders together. He had them stand around the Tent of Meeting.
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So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he 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. He spoke with Moses. He took some of his Spirit that was on Moses. And he put the Spirit on the 70 elders. When the Spirit came on them, they prophesied. But they didn't do it again.
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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, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
26 Two men had remained in the camp. Their names were Eldad and Medad. They were listed among the elders. But they didn't go out to the Tent of Meeting. In spite of that, the Spirit came on them too. So they prophesied in the camp.
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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 had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp.
27 A young man ran up to Moses. He said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
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And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
28 Joshua spoke up. He was the son of Nun. Joshua had been Moses' helper from the time he was young. He said, "Moses! Please stop them!"
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So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, "Moses my lord, forbid them!"
29 But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for me? I wish that all of the LORD's people were prophets. And I wish that the LORD would put his Spirit on them."
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Then Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!"
30 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
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And Moses returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.
31 The LORD sent out a wind. It drove quail in from the Red Sea. It brought them down all around the camp. They were about three feet above the ground. They could be seen in every direction as far as a person could walk in a day.
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Now a 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 The people went out all day and gathered quail. They gathered them all night and all the next day. No one gathered less than 60 bushels. Then they spread the quail out all around the camp.
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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 homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
33 But while the meat was still in their mouths, the LORD acted. Before the people could swallow it, his anger burned against them. He struck them with a terrible plague.
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But while the 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 the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah. That's where the bodies of the people who had longed for other food were buried.
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So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth. And they stayed there.
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From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.