The Complaints of the People 1 DRA In the mean time there arose a murmuring of the people against the Lord, as it were repining at their fatigue. And when the Lord heard it he was angry. And the fire of the Lord being kindled against them, devoured them that were at the uttermost 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 DRA And when the people cried to Moses, Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was swallowed up. BSB BSB: And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down.
3 DRA And he called the name of that place, The burning: for that the fire of the Lord had been kindled against them. BSB BSB: So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.
4 DRA For a mixt multitude of people, that came up with them, burned with desire, sitting and weeping, the children of Israel also being joined with them, 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 DRA We remember the Ash that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. BSB BSB: We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
6 DRA Our soul is dry, our eyes behold nothing else but manna. BSB BSB: But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!”
7 DRA A Now the manna was like coriander seed, of the colour of bdellium. BSB BSB: Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin.
8 DRA And the people went about, and gathering it, ground it in a mill, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pot, and made cakes thereof of the taste of bread tempered 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 DRA And when the dew fell in the night upon the camp, the manna also fell with it. BSB BSB: When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.
The Complaint of Moses 10 DRA Now Moses heard the people weeping by their families, every one at the door of his tent. And the wrath of the Lord was exceedingly enkindled: to Moses also the thing seemed insupportable. 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 DRA And he said to the Lord: Why hast thou afflicted thy servant? wherefore do I not find favour before thee? and why hast thou laid the weight of all 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 DRA Have I conceived all this multitude, or begotten them, that thou shouldst say to me: Carry them in thy bosom as the nurse is wont to carry the little infant, and bear them into the land, for which thou hast sworn 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 DRA Whence should I have flesh to give to so great a multitude? they weep against 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 DRA I am not able alone to bear all this people, because it is too heavy for me. BSB BSB: I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me.
15 DRA But if it seem unto thee otherwise, I beseech thee to kill me, and let me find grace in thy eyes, that I be not afflicted with so great evils. 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 DRA And the Lord said to Moses: Gather unto me seventy men of the ancients of Israel, whom thou knowest to be ancients and masters of the people: and thou shalt bring them to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and shalt make them 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 DRA That I may come down and speak with thee: and I will take of thy spirit, and will give to them, that they may bear with thee the burden of the people, and thou mayest not be burthened 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 DRA And thou shalt say to the people: Be ye sanctified: tomorrow you shall eat flesh: for I have heard you say: Who will give us flesh to eat? it was well with us in Egypt. That the Lord may give you flesh, and you may eat: 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 DRA Not for one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, no nor for twenty. BSB BSB: You will eat it not for one or two days, nor for five or ten or twenty days,
20 DRA But even for a month of days, till it come out at your nostrils, and become loathsome to you, because you have cast off the Lord, who is in the midst of you, and have wept before him, saying: Why came we 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 DRA And Moses said: There are six hundred thousand footmen of this people, and sayest thou: I will give them flesh to 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 DRA Shall then a multitude of sheep and oxen be killed, that it may suffice for their food? or shall the fishes of the sea be gathered together to fill 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 DRA And the Lord answered him: Is the hand of the Lord unable? Thou shalt presently see whether my word shall come to pass or no. 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 DRA Moses therefore came, and told the people the words of the Lord, and assembled seventy men of the ancients of Israel, and made them to stand 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 DRA And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, taking away of the spirit that was in Moses, and giving to the seventy men. And when the spirit had rested on them they prophesied, nor did they cease afterwards. 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 DRA Now there remained in the camp two of the men, of whom one was called Eldad, and the other Medad, upon whom the spirit rested; for they also had been enrolled, but were not gone forth to the tabernacle. 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 DRA And when they prophesied in the camp, there ran a young man, and told Moses, saying: Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp. BSB BSB: A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 DRA Forthwith Josue the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, and chosen out of many, 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 DRA But he said: Why hast thou emulation for me? O that all the people might prophesy, and that the Lord would give them his spirit! 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 DRA And Moses returned, with the ancients of Israel, into the camp. BSB BSB: Then Moses returned to the camp, along with the elders of Israel.
The Quail and the Plague 31 DRA And a wind going out from the Lord, taking quails up beyond the sea brought them, and cast them into the camp for the space of one day’s journey, on every side of the camp round about, and they flew in the air two cubits high above the ground. 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 DRA The people therefore rising up all that day, and night, and the next day, gathered together of quails, he that did least, ten cores: and they dried them 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 DRA As yet the flesh was between their teeth, neither had that kind of meat failed: when behold the wrath of the Lord being provoked against the people, struck them with an exceeding 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 DRA And that place was called, The graves of lust: for there they buried the people that had lusted. And departing from the graves of lust, they came unto Haseroth, and abode there. BSB BSB: So they called that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.