Numbers 11:1-23

Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the LORD heard it; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp. So the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire died out. He named that place Taberah (the place of burning), because the fire of the LORD burned among them. The rabble among them [who followed Israel from Egypt] had greedy desires [for familiar and delicious food], and the Israelites wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish we ate freely and without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing at all [in the way of food] to be seen but this manna.” The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes with it; and it tasted like cakes baked with fresh [olive] oil. When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna fell with it. Now Moses heard the people weeping [in self-pity] throughout their families, every man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses regarded their behavior as evil. So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have placed the burden of all these people on me? Was it I who conceived all these people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms as a nurse carries the nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, so that we may eat.’ I am not able to carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. So if this is the way You are going to deal with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.” Accordingly, the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from among the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers; bring them to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and let them stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not have to bear it all alone. Say to the people, ‘Consecrate (separate as holy) yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept [in self-pity] in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and is disgusting to you—because you have rejected and despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept [in self-pity] before Him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ” [Ps 106:13-15] But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 [fighting men] on foot [besides all the women and children]; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat it for a whole month!’ Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be collected for them to be sufficient for them?” The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S hand (ability, power) limited (short, inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word will come to pass for you or not.” [Is 50:2]