The Complaints of the People 1 Brenton And the people murmured sinfully before the Lord; and the Lord heard them and was very angry; and fire was kindled among them from the Lord, and devoured a part of the camp. BSB BSB: Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
2 Brenton And the people cried to Moses: and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was quenched. BSB BSB: And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down.
3 Brenton And the name of that place was called Burning; for a fire was kindled among them from the Lord. BSB BSB: So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.
4 Brenton And the mixed multitude among them lusted exceedingly; and they and the children of Israel sat down and wept and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? BSB BSB: Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
5 Brenton We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt freely; and the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the garlic, and the onions. BSB BSB: We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
6 Brenton But now our soul is dried up; our eyes turn to nothing but to the manna. BSB BSB: But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!”
7 Brenton And the manna is as coriander seed, and the appearance of it the appearance of hoarfrost. BSB BSB: Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin.
8 Brenton And the people went through the field, and gathered, and ground it in the mill, or pounded it in a mortar, and baked it in a pan, and made cakes of it; and the sweetness of it was as the taste of wafer made with oil. BSB BSB: The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil.
9 Brenton And when the dew came upon the camp by night, the manna came down upon it. BSB BSB: When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.
The Complaint of Moses 10 Brenton And Moses heard them weeping by their families, every one in his door: and the Lord was very angry; and the thing was evil in the sight of Moses. BSB BSB: Then Moses heard the people of family after family weeping at the entrances to their tents, and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses was also displeased.
11 Brenton And Moses said to the Lord, Why hast thou afflicted thy servant, and why have I not found grace in thy sight, that thou shouldest lay the weight of this people upon me? BSB BSB: So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?
12 Brenton Have I conceived all this people, or have I born them? that thou sayest to me, Take them into thy bosom, as a nurse would take her suckling, into the land which thou swarest to their fathers? BSB BSB: Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth, so that You should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You swore to give their fathers?
13 Brenton Whence have I flesh to give to all this people? for they weep to me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. BSB BSB: Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’
14 Brenton I shall not be able to bear this people alone, for this thing is too heavy for me. BSB BSB: I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me.
15 Brenton And if thou doest thus to me, slay me utterly, if I have found favour with thee, that I may not see my affliction. BSB BSB: If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
Seventy Elders Anointed 16 Brenton And the Lord said to Moses, Gather me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom thou thyself knowest that they are the elders of the people, and their scribes; and thou shalt bring them to the tabernacle of witness, and they shall stand there with thee. BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.
17 Brenton And I will go down, and speak there with thee; and I will take of the spirit that is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear together with thee the burden of the people, and thou shalt not bear them alone. BSB BSB: And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.
18 Brenton And to the people thou shalt say, Purify yourselves for the morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye wept before the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: and the Lord shall allow you to eat flesh, and ye shall eat flesh. BSB BSB: And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have cried out in the hearing of the LORD, saying: ‘Who will feed us meat? For we were better off in Egypt!’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat.
19 Brenton Ye shall not eat one day, nor two, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days; BSB BSB: You will eat it not for one or two days, nor for five or ten or twenty days,
20 Brenton ye shall eat for a full month, until the flesh come out at your nostrils; and it shall be nausea to you, because ye disobeyed the Lord, who is among you, and wept before him, saying, What had we to do to come out of Egypt? BSB BSB: but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”
21 Brenton And Moses said, The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou saidst, I will give them flesh to eat, and they shall eat a whole month. BSB BSB: But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’
22 Brenton Shall sheep and oxen be slain for them, and shall it suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and shall it suffice them? BSB BSB: If all our 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?”
23 Brenton And the Lord said to Moses, Shall not the hand of the Lord be fully sufficient? now shalt thou know whether my word shall come to pass to thee or not. BSB BSB: The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
24 Brenton And Moses went out, and spoke the words of the Lord to the people; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and he set them round about the tabernacle. BSB BSB: So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent.
25 Brenton And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy men that were elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and ceased. BSB BSB: Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.
26 Brenton And there were two men left in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Modad; and the spirit rested upon them, and these were of the number of them that were enrolled, but they did not come to the tabernacle; and they prophesied in the camp. BSB BSB: Two men, however, had remained in the camp—one named Eldad and the other Medad—and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp.
27 Brenton And a young man ran and told Moses, and spoke, saying, Eldad and Modad prophesy in the camp. BSB BSB: A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 Brenton And Joshua the son of Naue, who attended on Moses, the chosen one, said, My lord Moses, forbid them. BSB BSB: Joshua son of Nun, the attendant to Moses since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
29 Brenton And Moses said to him, Art thou jealous on my account? and would that all the Lord's people were prophets; whenever the Lord shall put his spirit upon them. BSB BSB: But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!”
30 Brenton And Moses departed into the camp, himself and the elders of Israel. BSB BSB: Then Moses returned to the camp, along with the elders of Israel.
The Quail and the Plague 31 Brenton And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails over from the sea; and it brought them down upon the camp a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on that side, round about the camp, as it were two cubits from the earth. BSB BSB: Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day’s journey in every direction around the camp.
32 Brenton And the people rose up all the day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered quails; he that gathered least, gathered ten measures; and they refreshed themselves round about the camp. BSB BSB: All that day and night, and all the next day, the people stayed up gathering the quail. No one gathered less than ten homers, and they spread them out all around the camp.
33 Brenton The flesh was yet between their teeth, before it failed, when the Lord was wroth with the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. BSB BSB: But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.
34 Brenton And the name of that place was called the Graves of Lust; for there they buried the people that lusted. BSB BSB: So they called that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.
35 Brenton The people departed from the Graves of Lust to Aseroth; and the people halted at Aseroth. BSB BSB: From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth, where they remained for some time.
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