11
1 But the people were discontented (or, were fomenting evil) before the Lord; and it was heard before the Lord, and His anger was strongly moved, and a fire was kindled against them from before the Lord, and it consumed the outskirts of the camp.
2 And the people cried unto Mosheh, and Mosheh prayed before the Lord, and the fire was subdued.
3 And Mosheh called the name of that place Enkindlement; because the fire had been kindled against them from before the Lord.
4 And the mixed multitude who were among them demanded with demand; and the children of Israel also turned, and wept, and said: Who will feed us with flesh?
5 We remember the fish which we ate in Mizraim freely, the cucumbers and melons, the cresses and onions and garlick.
6 But now our soul longeth, yet there is nothing before our eyes but manna.
7 Now the manna was like the seed of coriander, and its appearance as the appearance of bedilcha.
8 And the people went about and gathered; and he who would ground it in mills, or he who would beat it in the mortar, and they dressed it in the pan, and made cakes of it, and its taste was like the taste of a confection of oil.
9 And when the dew came down upon the camp at night, the manna descended upon it.
10 And Mosheh heard the people lamenting with their families, a man at the door of his tent. And the displeasure of the Lord grew very strong, as in the eyes of Mosheh it was evil.
11 And Mosheh said before the Lord, Wherefore hast Thou done painfully to Thy servant, and why have I not found mercy before Thee, that Thou hast put the burden of all this people upon me?
12 Am I father to all this people, or are they my children, that Thou hast said to me, Carry them in thy strength, as the nurse carrieth the suckling, unto the land which Thou hast covenanted to their fathers?
13 Whence shall I have flesh to give to all this people? For they lament to me, saying: Give us flesh to eat.
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 And if Thou do thus with me, kill me, I pray, if I have found mercy before Thee, that I may not see my wretchedness.
16 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be elders of the people, and the overseers thereof, and bring them to the tabernacle of ordinance, and let them stand there with thee;
17 And I will reveal Myself, and will speak with thee there; and I will make enlargement of the Spirit that is upon thee, and put it upon them, that they may bear with thee the burden of the people, and thou mayest not sustain it by thyself alone.
18 And say thou to the people, Prepare yourselves for the morrow, and you shall eat flesh; for that you have lamented before the Lord, saying: Who will give us flesh, that we may eat? For it was better with us in Mizraim; and I will give you flesh, and you shall eat.
19 Not one day shall you eat (it), nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days;
20 But for a month of days, until you loathe it, and it be an offence to you; because you have felt, dislike to the Word of the Lord, whose Shekinah dwelleth among you; and before whom you have wept, saying: Why came we out of Mizraim?
21 But Mosheh said, The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and Thou hast said, I will give them flesh to eat for a month of days.
22 Shall the oxen and sheep be slaughtered for them, to satisfy them, or all the fish of the sea be gathered that they may be satisfied?
23 And the Lord said to Mosheh: Is the Word of the Lord restrained? Now shalt thou see whether My saying come to pass with thee or not.
24 And Mosheh went forth, and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered together seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.
25 And the Lord was revealed in the Cloud, and spake with him, and he made enlargement of the Spirit that was upon him, and imparted to the seventy men, the elders; and it came to pass that when the Spirit of prophecy rested upon them they prophesied, and ceased not.
26 But two men remained in the camp, the name of the one Eldad, and the name of the second Medad; and the Spirit of prophecy rested upon them; and, though they were in the writings, they had not come out of the camp; but they prophesied in the camp.
27 And a young man ran, and showed to Mosheh, and said: Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Jehoshua bar Nun, the minister of Mosheh from his youth, answered and said, Ribboni Mosheh, put them in bond.
29 But Mosheh said, Art thou jealous for my sake? I would that all the people of the Lord did prophesy, and that the Lord would confer the Spirit of prophecy upon them.
30 And Mosheh returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 And the wind proceeded from before the Lord, and the quails flew abroad from the sea, and it bare them upon the camp as (the breadth of) a day’s journey here, and a day’s journey there, round about the camp, and as at a height of two cubits over the face of the ground.
32 And the people were up all that day, and all the night, and all the day after it, and collected the quails; he who collected least (gathered together) ten heaps; and they spread them abroad, round about the camp.
33 While yet the flesh was between their teeth, and they had not yet finished, the displeasure of the Lord was manifested strongly against the people, and the Lord inflicted death among the people with a very great mortality.
34 And he called the name of that place, The Graves of the Demanders; because there they buried the people who demanded.
35 From the Graves of the Demanders the people journeyed to Hatseroth, and they were in Hatseroth.