1
And the people became as complainers, evil in the ears of Yahuah. And Yahuah heard, and His anger burned, and the fire of Yahuah burned among them and consumed at the edge of the camp.
2
And the people cried out to Mosheh, and Mosheh prayed to Yahuah, and the fire sank down.
3
And he called the name of that place Taverah, because the fire of Yahuah had burned among them.
4
And the mixed multitude that was in their midst lusted with lust. And the sons of Yisra’el also turned again and wept and said, “Who will give us flesh to eat?
5
We remember the fish that we ate in Mitzrayim freely, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.
6
But now our being is dried up. There is nothing at all except this Man before our eyes.”
7
And the Man was like coriander seed, and its appearance was like the appearance of bdellium.
8
The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pot, and made cakes from it. And its taste was like the taste of fresh oil.
9
And when the dew descended upon the camp by night, the Man descended upon it.
10
And Mosheh heard the people weeping according to their families, each ish at the entrance of his tent. And the anger of Yahuah burned exceedingly, and the matter was evil in the eyes of Mosheh.
11
And Mosheh said to Yahuah, “Why have You done evil to Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your eyes, that You place the burden of all this people upon me?
12
Did I conceive all this people? Did I bring them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nursing father carries the nursing child, to the land that You swore to their fathers’?
13
From where shall I have flesh to give to all this people? For they weep against me, saying, ‘Give us flesh, that we may eat.’
14
I am not able, I alone, to carry all this people, for it is too heavy for me.
15
And if thus You do to me, killing, please kill me, if I have found favor in Your eyes, and let me not see my evil.”
16
And Yahuah said to Mosheh, “Gather for Me seventy ish from the elders of Yisra’el, whom you know to be elders of the people and their officers, and take them to the Tent of Meeting, and let them station themselves there with you.
17
And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take from the Ruach that is upon you and place it upon them. And they shall bear the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it by yourself alone.
18
And to the people you shall say, ‘Set yourselves apart for tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh, for you have wept in the ears of Yahuah, saying, “Who will give us flesh to eat? For it was good for us in Mitzrayim.” Therefore Yahuah will give you flesh, and you shall eat.
19
Not one day shall you eat, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
20
but until a month of days, until it comes out from your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you rejected Yahuah who is in your midst and wept before His face, saying, “Why is this that we came out from Mitzrayim?”’”
21
And Mosheh said, “Six hundred thousand on foot are the people in whose midst I am, and You have said, ‘Flesh I will give them, and they shall eat a month of days.’
22
Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them and be sufficient for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered for them and be sufficient for them?”
23
And Yahuah said to Mosheh, “Has the hand of Yahuah become short? Now you shall see whether My word comes upon you or not.”
24
And Mosheh went out and spoke the words of Yahuah to the people. And he gathered seventy ish from the elders of the people and caused them to stand around the Tent.
25
And Yahuah came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took from the Ruach that was upon him and placed it upon the seventy elders. And it came to pass, when the Ruach rested upon them, that they prophesied, and they did not continue.
26
But two men remained in the camp. The name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the second Medad. And the Ruach rested upon them. And they were among those written, but they had not gone out to the Tent. And they prophesied in the camp.
27
And a young man ran and told Mosheh and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28
And Yehoshua son of Nun, attendant of Mosheh from his youth, answered and said, “My master Mosheh, restrain them.”
29
And Mosheh said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? And who would give that all the people of Yahuah were prophets, that Yahuah would place His Ruach upon them!”
30
And Mosheh withdrew to the camp, he and the elders of Yisra’el.
31
And a wind went out from Yahuah and drove quail from the sea and cast them beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on that side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.
32
And the people rose all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered least gathered ten chomer. And spreading, they spread them for themselves all around the camp.
33
While the flesh was still between their teeth, before it was cut off, the anger of Yahuah burned against the people, and Yahuah struck the people with an exceedingly great plague.
34
And he called the name of that place Qivrot-Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted.
35
From Qivrot-Hattaavah the people journeyed to Chatzerot, and they remained at Chatzerot.