Numbers 11-12

Contemporary English Version

The Israelites Complain

11 One day the Israelites started complaining about their troubles. The Lord heard them and became so angry that he destroyed the outer edges of their camp with fire.

² When the people begged Moses to help, he prayed, and the fire went out. ³ They named the place “Burning,”^[a] because in his anger the Lord had set their camp on fire.

The People Grumble about Being Hungry

⁴ One day some foreigners among the Israelites became greedy for food, and even the Israelites themselves began moaning, “We don't have any meat! ⁵ In Egypt we could eat all the fish we wanted, and there were cucumbers, melons, all kinds of onions, and garlic. ⁶ But we're starving out here, and the only food we have is this manna.”

^7 (A) The manna was like small whitish seeds ^8-9 (B) and tasted like something baked with sweet olive oil. It appeared at night with the dew. In the morning the people would collect the manna, grind or crush it into flour, then boil it and make it into thin wafers.

¹⁰ The Israelites stood around their tents complaining. Moses heard them and was upset that they had made the Lord angry. ¹¹ He prayed:

I am your servant, Lord, so why are you doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this? You've made me responsible for all these people, ¹² but they're not my children. You told me to nurse them along and to carry them to the land you promised their ancestors. ¹³ They keep whining for meat, but where can I get meat for them? ¹⁴ This job is too much for me. How can I take care of all these people by myself? ¹⁵ If this is the way you're going to treat me, just kill me now and end my miserable life!

Seventy Leaders Are Chosen To Help Moses

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses:

Choose 70 of Israel's respected leaders and go with them to the sacred tent. ¹⁷ While I am talking with you there, I will give them some of your authority, so they can share responsibility for my people. You will no longer have to care for them by yourself.

¹⁸ As for the Israelites, I have heard them complaining about not having meat and about being better off in Egypt. So tell them to make themselves acceptable to me, because tomorrow they will have meat. ^19-20 In fact, they will have meat day after day for a whole month—not just a few days, or even 10 or 20. They turned against me and wanted to go back to Egypt. Now they will eat meat until they get sick of it.

²¹ Moses replied, “At least 600,000 grown men are here with me. How can you say there will be enough meat to feed them and their families for a whole month? ²² Even if we butchered all our sheep and cattle, or caught every fish in the sea, we wouldn't have enough to feed them.”

²³ The Lord answered, “I can do anything! Watch and you'll see my words come true.”

²⁴ Moses told the people what the Lord had said. Then he chose 70 respected leaders and went with them to the sacred tent. While the leaders stood in a circle around the tent, Moses went inside, ²⁵ and the Lord spoke with him. Then the Lord took some authority^[b] from Moses and gave it to the 70 leaders. And when the Lord's Spirit took control of them, they started shouting like prophets. But they did it only this one time.

²⁶ Eldad and Medad were two leaders who had not gone to the tent. But when the Spirit took control of them, they began shouting like prophets right there in camp. ²⁷ A boy ran to Moses and told him about Eldad and Medad.

²⁸ Joshua^[c] was there helping Moses, as he had done since he was young. And he said to Moses, “Sir, you must stop them!”

²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you concerned what this might do to me? I wish the Lord would give his Spirit to all his people so everyone could be a prophet.” ³⁰ Then Moses and the 70 leaders went back to camp.

The Lord Sends Quails

³¹ Some time later the Lord sent a strong wind that blew quails in from the sea until Israel's camp was completely surrounded with birds, piled up about a meter high for many kilometers in every direction. ³² The people picked up quails for two days—each person filled at least ten large baskets. Then they spread them out to dry. ³³ But before the meat could be eaten, the Lord became angry and sent a deadly disease through the camp.

³⁴ After they had buried the people who had been so greedy for meat, they called the place “Graves for the Greedy.”^[d]

³⁵ Israel then broke camp and traveled to Hazeroth.

Miriam and Aaron Are Jealous of Moses

12 ^1-3 (C) Although Moses was the most humble person in all the world, Miriam and Aaron started complaining, “Moses had no right to marry that woman from Ethiopia!^[e] Who does he think he is? The Lord has spoken to us, not just to him.”

The Lord heard their complaint ⁴ and told Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to come to the entrance of the sacred tent. ⁵ There the Lord appeared in a cloud and told Aaron and Miriam to come closer. ⁶ Then after commanding them to listen carefully, he said:

⁹ The Lord became angry with Aaron and Miriam. And after the Lord left ¹⁰ and the cloud disappeared from over the sacred tent, Miriam's skin turned white with leprosy.^[f] When Aaron saw what had happened to her, ¹¹ he said to Moses, “Sir, please don't punish us for doing such a foolish thing. ¹² Don't let Miriam's flesh rot away like a child born dead!”

¹³ Moses prayed, “Lord God, please heal her.”

^14 (E) But the Lord replied, “Miriam would be disgraced for seven days if her father had punished her by spitting in her face. So make her stay outside the camp for seven days, before coming back.”

¹⁵ The people of Israel did not move their camp until Miriam returned seven days later. ¹⁶ Then they left Hazeroth and set up camp in the Paran Desert.