1
And the people are evil, as those sighing habitually in the ears of YHWH, and YHWH hears, and His anger burns, and the fire of YHWH burns among them, and consumes in the extremity of the camp.
2
And the people cry to Moses, and Moses prays to YHWH, and the fire is quenched;
3
and he calls the name of that place Taberah, for the fire of YHWH has “burned” among them.
4
And the rabble who [are] in its midst have lusted greatly, and the sons of Israel also turn back and weep, and say, “Who gives us flesh?
5
We have remembered the fish which we eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
6
and now our soul [is] dry, there is not anything, except the manna, before our eyes.”
7
And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdellium;
8
the people have turned aside and gathered [it], and ground [it] with millstones, or beat [it] in a mortar, and boiled [it] in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste has been as the taste of the moisture of oil.
9
And in the descending of the dew on the camp by night, the manna descends on it.
The Complaint of Moses
10
And Moses hears the people weeping by its families, each at the opening of his tent, and the anger of YHWH burns exceedingly, and in the eyes of Moses [it is] evil.
11
And Moses says to YHWH, “Why have You done evil to Your servant? And why have I not found grace in Your eyes—to put the burden of all this people on me?
12
I—have I conceived all this people? I—have I begotten it, that You say to me, Carry it in your bosom, as the one supporting carries the nursing suckling, to the ground which You have sworn to its fathers?
13
From where do I have flesh to give to all this people? For they weep to me, saying, Give flesh to us, and we eat.
14
I am not able—I alone—to bear all this people, for [it is] too heavy for me;
15
and if thus You are doing to me—please slay me; slay, if I have found grace in your eyes, and do not let me look on my affliction.”
Seventy Elders Anointed
16
And YHWH says to Moses, “Gather to Me seventy men from [the] elderly of Israel, whom you have known that they are [the] elderly of the people, and its authorities; and you have taken them to the Tent of Meeting, and they have stationed themselves there with you,
17
and I have come down and spoken with you there, and have kept back of the Spirit which [is] on you, and have put [that One] on them, and they have borne some of the burden of the people with you, and you do not bear [it] alone.
18
And you say to the people: Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you have eaten flesh, for you have wept in the ears of YHWH, saying, Who gives us flesh? For we [had] good in Egypt; and YHWH has given flesh to you, and you have eaten.
19
You do not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
20
[but] even to a month of days, until it comes out from your nostrils, and it has become an abomination to you, because that you have loathed YHWH, who [is] in your midst, and weep before Him, saying, Why is this [that] we have come out of Egypt!”
21
And Moses says, “Six hundred thousand footmen [are] the people in whose midst I [dwell]; and You, You have said, I give flesh to them, and they have eaten [for] a month of days!
22
Is flock and herd slaughtered for them, that one has found [enough] for them? Are all the fishes of the sea gathered for them, that one has found [enough] for them?”
23
And YHWH says to Moses, “Has the hand of YHWH become short? Now you see whether My word meets you or not.”
24
And Moses goes out, and speaks the words of YHWH to the people, and gathers seventy men from [the] elderly of the people, and causes them to stand around the tent,
25
and YHWH comes down in the cloud, and speaks to him, and keeps back of the Spirit which [is] on him, and puts [that One] on the seventy elderly men; and it comes to pass at the resting of the Spirit on them, that they prophesy, and they have never done [so] again.
26
And two of the men are left in the camp, the name of the first [is] Eldad and the name of the second Medad, and the spirit rests on them (and they are among those written, but they have not gone out to the tent), and they prophesy in the camp;
27
and the young man runs, and declares [it] to Moses, and says, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28
And Joshua son of Nun, minister of Moses, [one] of his young men, answers and says, “My lord Moses, restrain them.”
29
And Moses says to him, “Are you zealous for me? O that all YHWH’s people were prophets! That YHWH would put His Spirit on them!”
30
And Moses is gathered to the camp, he and [the] elderly of Israel.
The Quail and the Plague
31
And a spirit has journeyed from YHWH, and cuts off quails from the sea, and leaves [them] by the camp, as a day’s journey here and as a day’s journey there, around the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the land.
32
And the people rise all that day, and all the night, and all the day after, and gather the quails—he who has least has gathered ten homers—and they spread them out for themselves around the camp.
33
The flesh is yet between their teeth—it is not yet cut off—and the anger of YHWH has burned among the people, and YHWH strikes [with] a very great striking among the people;
34
and [one] calls the name of that place Kibroth-Hattaavah, for there they have buried the people who lust.
35
From Kibroth-Hattaavah the people have journeyed to Hazeroth, and they are in Hazeroth.
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