Self-interpreting Bible

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Numbers 11

1The burning at Taberah is quenched by Moses' prayer. 4The people lust for flesh, and lothe manna. 10Moses complaineth of his charge. 16God promiseth to divide the burden of it among seventy elders, and to give the people flesh for a month. 21Moses' faith is staggered. 24God giveth of his spirit unto the seventy elders. 31Quails are given in wrath at Kibroth-hattaavah.

1 AND when the people 1complained, it 2displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; aand his anger was kindled; and the bfire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in cthe *uttermost parts of the camp.

2 And the people dcried unto Moses; and when Moses eprayed unto the LORD, the fire was 3quenched.

3 And he called the name of the place 4Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.

  • 4: That is, a burning.

4 ¶And the fmixt multitude that was among them 5fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also 6wept again, and said, gWho shall give us flesh to eat?

5 hWe remember ithe fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

6 But now our soul is jdried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

7 And kthe manna was as *coriander seed, and the 7colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.

8 And the people went labout, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and mbaked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of nfresh oil.

9 And when the odew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

10 ¶Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the panger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

11 And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou qafflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

12 Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, rCarry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou sswarest unto their fathers?

13 Whence tshould I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

14 uI am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

15 And if thou deal thus with me, vkill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not wsee my wretchedness.

16 ¶And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me xseventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and yofficers over them; and bring them zunto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

17 And I will acome down and talk with thee there: and I will btake of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall cbear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

18 And say thou unto the people, dSanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, eWho shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD fwill give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

    20 But even a whole 8month, until git come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have hdespised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, iWhy came we forth out of Egypt?

    21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are jsix hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

    22 Shall kthe flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?

    23 And the LORD said unto Moses, Is lthe LORD's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether mmy word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

    24 ¶And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and ngathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

    25 And the LORD ocame down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and ptook of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they qprophesied, and did not cease.

    26 But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but rwent not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

    27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

      28 And sJoshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, tforbid them.

      29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? uwould God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!

      30 And Moses *gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

      • *: gat-got.

      31 ¶And there went forth va wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, 9as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

      32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered wten homers: and they spread them all *abroad for themselves round about the camp.

      33 And while xthe flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

      34 And he called the name of that place 10Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

      35 And the people yjourneyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and 11abode at Hazeroth.