for those three days to seek a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.
35 Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say,
“Rise up, O LORD!
May Your enemies be scattered;
may those who hate You flee before You.”
36 And when it came to rest, he would say:
“Return, O LORD,
to the countless thousands of Israel.”
The Complaints of the People
11 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 And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah,[1] because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.
4 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 We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!”
7 Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin. 8 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 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.
The Complaint of Moses
10 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 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 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 Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’
14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me. 15 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 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 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 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
- ↑ 3 Taberah means burning.
