The People Complain of Hardship
11 1 The people complained about their hardship where our Father could hear; he heard, his anger burned, and the fire of our Father blazed among them, consuming the camp's edge. 2 The people cried out to Moses, Moses prayed to our Father, and the fire died down. 3 So that place was named Taberah, because the fire of our Father had blazed among them. a a v3 Taberah means "burning" — the place was named for the fire that broke out there.
4 The mixed crowd among them craved intensely; Israel's people also wept again, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat?" 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt free, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing at all to see but this manna." 7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like pale resin. b b v7 Bdellium was a pale, pearl-like resin or gum — the manna had that same translucent look. 8 The people went about gathering it, ground it in mills or crushed it in mortars, boiled it in pots, and shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry made with oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna fell with it.
10 Moses heard the people weeping by their clans, each at his tent entrance. The anger of our Father burned greatly, and it seemed wrong to Moses. 11 Moses said to our Father, "Why have you mistreated your servant? Why haven't I found favor with you, that you put this whole people's burden on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give birth to them, that you'd tell me, 'Carry them in your arms, as a caregiver carries a nursing baby,' to the land you swore to give their ancestors? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep weeping to me, saying, 'Give us meat to eat!' 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you treat me, please kill me now — if I have found favor in your eyes — and don't let me see my own misery.
The Father Shares the Spirit With Seventy
16 Then our Father told Moses, "Gather for me seventy men from Israel's elders, whom you know as elders and officers of the people, and bring them to the meeting tent, and let them stand there with you. 17 I will come down, speak with you there, take some of the Spirit on you, and put it on them. They will carry the people's burden with you, so you won't carry it alone.
18 Tell the people: Dedicate yourselves for tomorrow — you will eat meat. You wept in our Father's hearing, saying, 'If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt.' So our Father will give you meat, and you will eat. 19 Not for one day, two, five, ten, or twenty days will you eat it, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out your nostrils and disgusts you — because you rejected our Father among you, weeping before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"'"
21 Moses said, "The people I'm with number six hundred thousand on foot, yet you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month'?" 22 Could flocks and herds be slaughtered to satisfy them? Could all the fish of the sea be gathered to satisfy them?
23 our Father said to Moses, "Is my hand too short? Now you'll see whether my word comes true for you or not."
24 Moses went out and told the people our Father's words. He gathered seventy men from the people's elders and stationed them around the tent. 25 Then our Father came down in the cloud, spoke to him, took some of the Spirit on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied — but not again. 26 Two men had remained in the camp, one named Eldad, the other Medad, and the Spirit rested on them — they were among those registered but had not gone out to the tent — yet 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, Moses' assistant from his youth, said: "My lord Moses, hold them back!"
29 But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for me? I wish all our Father's people were prophets, that our Father would put his Spirit on them!"
30 Then Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
Quail From the Father, Plague for Craving
31 A wind went out from our Father, drove quail from the sea, and dropped them around the camp — about a day's journey on each side, about two cubits deep on the ground. 32 The people were up all that day, all night, and all the next day gathering the quail — the least gathered ten homers — then spread it all out for themselves around the camp. c c v32 A homer was a large dry measure — roughly the load a donkey could carry, about 220 liters; ten homers was an enormous haul. 33 While the meat was still between their teeth, not yet chewed, our Father's anger burned against the people, and our Father struck them with a very severe plague. 34 That place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who craved. d d v34 Kibroth-hattaavah means "graves of craving" — named for those buried there after the people's greed for meat.
35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.
