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Numbers 11-13
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Numbers 11-13
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Complaints about Hardship
11 Now the people began complaining openly before[a] the Lord about hardship. When the Lord heard, His anger burned,(A) and fire(B) from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So that place was named Taberah,[b](C) because the Lord’s fire had blazed among them.
Complaints about Food
4 Contemptible people[c] among them(D) had a strong craving(E) for other food. The Israelites cried again and said, “Who will feed us meat? 5 We remember the free fish we ate in Egypt,(F) along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now our appetite is gone;[d] there’s nothing to look at but this manna!”
7 The manna(G) resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of bdellium.[e] 8 The people walked around and gathered it. They ground it on a pair of grinding stones or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot and shaped it into cakes. It tasted like a pastry cooked with the finest oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.(H)
10 Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents. The Lord was very angry;(I) Moses was also provoked.[f] 11 So Moses asked the Lord, “Why have You brought such trouble on Your servant? Why are You angry with me, and why do You burden me with all these people?(J) 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so You should tell me, ‘Carry them at your breast, as a nursing woman carries a baby,’(K) to the land that You[g] swore to give their fathers?(L) 13 Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying to me: ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I can’t carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me. 15 If You are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now.(M) If You are pleased with me,(N) don’t let me see my misery[h] anymore.”
Seventy Elders Anointed
16 The Lord answered Moses, “Bring Me 70 men from Israel known to you as elders and officers of the people. Take them to the tent of meeting and have them stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit who is on you and put the Spirit on them.(O) They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.(P)
18 “Tell the people: Purify yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you cried before the Lord: ‘Who will feed us meat? We really had it good in Egypt.’ The Lord will give you meat and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or 10 days, or 20 days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and cried to Him: ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”(Q)
21 But Moses replied, “I’m in the middle of a people with 600,000 foot soldiers,(R) yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ 22 If flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?”(S)
23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited?[i](T) You will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you.”
24 Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He brought 70 men from the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him.(U) He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed the Spirit on the 70 elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied,(V) but they never did it again. 26 Two men had remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad; the Spirit rested on them—they were among those listed, but had not gone out to the tent—and 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, assistant to Moses since his youth,[j] responded, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
29 But Moses asked him, “Are you jealous on my account?(W) If only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place His Spirit on them!” 30 Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel.
Quail in the Camp
31 A wind sent by the Lord(X) came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them at the camp all around, three feet[k] off[l] the ground, about a day’s journey in every direction.(Y) 32 The people were up all that day and night and all the next day gathering the quail—the one who took the least gathered 50 bushels[m]—and they spread them out all around the camp.[n](Z)
33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord’s anger burned(AA) against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague.(AB) 34 So they named that place Kibroth-hattaavah,[o] because there they buried the people who had craved the meat.
35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth[p](AC) and remained there.
Miriam and Aaron Rebel
12 Miriam(AD) and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite[q][r] woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). 2 They said, “Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us?” And the Lord heard it. 3 Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.
4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud,(AE) stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, 6 He said:
“Listen to what I say:
If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,
I make Myself known to him in a vision;(AF)
I speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so with My servant Moses;
he is faithful in[s] all My household.(AG)
8 I speak with him(AH) directly,[t]
openly, and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.(AI)
So why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” 9 The Lord’s anger burned against them,(AJ) and He left.
10 As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, as white as snow. When Aaron turned toward her, he saw that she was diseased 11 and said to Moses, “My lord, please don’t hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Please don’t let her be like a dead baby[u] whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”
13 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “God, please heal her!”(AK)
14 The Lord answered Moses, “If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn’t she remain in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp(AL) for seven days;(AM) after that she may be brought back in.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought back in.(AN) 16 After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.
Scouting Out Canaan
13 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Send men to scout out the land of Canaan(AO) I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man who is a leader among them from each of their ancestral tribes.” 3 Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran at the Lord’s command. All the men were leaders in Israel.(AP) 4 These were their names:
Shammua son of Zaccur from the tribe of Reuben;
5 Shaphat son of Hori from the tribe of Simeon;
6 Caleb(AQ) son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
7 Igal son of Joseph from the tribe of Issachar;
8 Hoshea son of Nun(AR) from the tribe of Ephraim;
9 Palti son of Raphu from the tribe of Benjamin;
10 Gaddiel son of Sodi from the tribe of Zebulun;
11 Gaddi son of Susi from the tribe of Manasseh (from the tribe of Joseph);
12 Ammiel son of Gemalli from the tribe of Dan;
13 Sethur son of Michael from the tribe of Asher;
14 Nahbi son of Vophsi from the tribe of Naphtali;
15 Geuel son of Machi from the tribe of Gad.
16 These were the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua.
17 When Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up this way to the Negev, then go up into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like, and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 Is the land they live in good(AS) or bad? Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications?(AT) 20 Is the land fertile or unproductive?(AU) Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous. Bring back some fruit from the land.” It was the season for the first ripe grapes.(AV)
21 So they went up and scouted out the land from the Wilderness of Zin[v] as far as Rehob[w] near the entrance to Hamath.[x] 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak,(AW) were living. Hebron was built seven years before Zoan(AX) in Egypt. 23 When they came to the Valley of Eshcol,(AY) they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which was carried on a pole by two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.(AZ) 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol[y] because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there. 25 At the end of 40 days(BA) they returned from scouting out the land.
Report about Canaan
26 The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land.(BB) 27 They reported to Moses: “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey,(BC) and here is some of its fruit. 28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified.(BD) We also saw the descendants of Anak(BE) there. 29 The Amalekites(BF) are living in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb(BG) quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”
31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!” 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim[z](BH) there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim!(BI) To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 11:1 Lit in the ears of
- Numbers 11:3 = blaze
- Numbers 11:4 Or The mixed multitude; Hb obscure
- Numbers 11:6 Or our lives are wasting away, or our throat is dry
- Numbers 11:7 A yellowish, transparent gum resin
- Numbers 11:10 Lit and it was evil in the eyes of Moses
- Numbers 11:12 One Hb ms, Sam, LXX, Syr, Tg read I
- Numbers 11:15 Ancient Jewish tradition reads Your misery
- Numbers 11:23 Lit Lord’s arm too short
- Numbers 11:28 LXX, some Sam mss read Moses, from his chosen ones
- Numbers 11:31 Lit two cubits
- Numbers 11:31 Or on, or above
- Numbers 11:32 Lit 10 homers
- Numbers 11:32 To dry or cure the meat; 2Sm 17:19; Ezk 26:5,14
- Numbers 11:34 = Graves of Craving
- Numbers 11:35 = settlements; Nm 12:16; 33:16-17
- Numbers 12:1 LXX reads Ethiopian
- Numbers 12:1 = Sudan and Ethiopia
- Numbers 12:7 Or is entrusted with
- Numbers 12:8 Lit mouth to mouth
- Numbers 12:12 Ancient Jewish tradition reads [baby] who comes out of our mother’s womb and our flesh is half eaten away.
- Numbers 13:21 Southern border of the promised land
- Numbers 13:21 Northern border of the promised land
- Numbers 13:21 Or near Lebo-hamath
- Numbers 13:24 = cluster
- Numbers 13:33 Possibly means fallen ones; traditionally, “giants”; Gn 6:4
Numbers 11-13
New International Version
Numbers 11-13
New International Version
Fire From the Lord
11 Now the people complained(A) about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord,(B) and when he heard them his anger was aroused.(C) Then fire from the Lord burned among them(D) and consumed(E) some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed(F) to the Lord(G) and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah,[a](H) because fire from the Lord had burned among them.(I)
Quail From the Lord
4 The rabble with them began to crave other food,(J) and again the Israelites started wailing(K) and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.(L) 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!(M)”
7 The manna was like coriander seed(N) and looked like resin.(O) 8 The people went around gathering it,(P) and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. 9 When the dew(Q) settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.
10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing(R) at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble(S) on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me?(T) 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant,(U) to the land you promised on oath(V) to their ancestors?(W) 13 Where can I get meat for all these people?(X) They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.(Y) 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me(Z)—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”
16 The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders(AA) who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people.(AB) Have them come to the tent of meeting,(AC) that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you(AD) there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them.(AE) They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.(AF)
18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves(AG) in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed,(AH) “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!”(AI) Now the Lord will give you meat,(AJ) and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it(AK)—because you have rejected the Lord,(AL) who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”(AM)
21 But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men(AN) on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”(AO)
23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short?(AP) Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.(AQ)”
24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud(AR) and spoke with him,(AS) and he took some of the power of the Spirit(AT) that was on him and put it on the seventy elders.(AU) When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied(AV)—but did not do so again.
26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them,(AW) and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 Joshua son of Nun,(AX) who had been Moses’ aide(AY) since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”(AZ)
29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets(BA) and that the Lord would put his Spirit(BB) on them!”(BC) 30 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail(BD) in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits[b] deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers.[c] Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth(BE) and before it could be consumed, the anger(BF) of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.(BG) 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah,[d](BH) because there they buried the people who had craved other food.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth(BI) and stayed there.
Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses
12 Miriam(BJ) and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife,(BK) for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?”(BL) And the Lord heard this.(BM)
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man,(BN) more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud;(BO) he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:
“When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal(BP) myself to them in visions,(BQ)
I speak to them in dreams.(BR)
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;(BS)
he is faithful in all my house.(BT)
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;(BU)
he sees the form of the Lord.(BV)
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”(BW)
9 The anger of the Lord burned against them,(BX) and he left them.(BY)
10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent,(BZ) Miriam’s skin was leprous[e]—it became as white as snow.(CA) Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,(CB) 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.(CC) 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!(CD)”
14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face,(CE) would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp(CF) for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp(CG) for seven days,(CH) and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
16 After that, the people left Hazeroth(CI) and encamped in the Desert of Paran.(CJ)
Exploring Canaan
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore(CK) the land of Canaan,(CL) which I am giving to the Israelites.(CM) From each ancestral tribe(CN) send one of its leaders.”
3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.(CO) 4 These are their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;(CP)
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;(CQ)
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore(CR) the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun(CS) the name Joshua.)(CT)
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,(CU) he said, “Go up through the Negev(CV) and on into the hill country.(CW) 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.(CX)” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)(CY)
21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin(CZ) as far as Rehob,(DA) toward Lebo Hamath.(DB) 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,(DC) where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,(DD) the descendants of Anak,(DE) lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)(DF) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[f](DG) they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates(DH) and figs.(DI) 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days(DJ) they returned from exploring the land.(DK)
Report on the Exploration
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh(DL) in the Desert of Paran.(DM) There they reported to them(DN) and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.(DO) 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!(DP) Here is its fruit.(DQ) 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.(DR) We even saw descendants of Anak(DS) there.(DT) 29 The Amalekites(DU) live in the Negev; the Hittites,(DV) Jebusites(DW) and Amorites(DX) live in the hill country;(DY) and the Canaanites(DZ) live near the sea and along the Jordan.(EA)”
30 Then Caleb(EB) silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”(EC) 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report(ED) about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours(EE) those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.(EF) 33 We saw the Nephilim(EG) there (the descendants of Anak(EH) come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers(EI) in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 11:3 Taberah means burning.
- Numbers 11:31 That is, about 3 feet or about 90 centimeters
- Numbers 11:32 That is, possibly about 1 3/4 tons or about 1.6 metric tons
- Numbers 11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah means graves of craving.
- Numbers 12:10 The Hebrew for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
- Numbers 13:23 Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.
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