Israelitterne begynder at beklage sig
1Folket begyndte ret hurtigt at beklage sig højlydt over de dårlige forhold, de måtte leve under; og da Herren hørte det, blev han så vred, at han sendte ild ned over dem, og det begyndte at brænde i lejrens udkant. 2Folket skreg til Moses om hjælp, og da han gik i forbøn for dem, døde ilden ud. 3Stedet kaldte man Tabera,11,3 Navnet betyder „brand” eller „et sted, der brænder”. for på det sted begyndte Herrens ild at brænde.
4Kort efter begyndte nogle af de fremmede, som fulgte med, at længes efter Egyptens kødgryder, og de fik hele Israels folk til at græde af selvmedlidenhed. „Bare vi dog kunne få lidt kød,” klagede de alle sammen. 5„Åh, hvor vi længes efter de fisk, der var nok af i Egypten—og agurker, vandmeloner, porrer, løg og hvidløg. 6Man mister appetitten, når det eneste, man får at spise, er manna.”
7Den manna, folket spiste, var hvidgule flager, der lignede korianderfrø, 8-9og som lå på jorden hver morgen, når duggen var forsvundet. De samlede det op og malede det til mel med en håndkværn eller i en morter. Derefter kogte de det i en gryde og lavede en slags pandekager, der smagte som var de bagt med olivenolie.
10Da Moses hørte folket beklage sig fra deres teltåbninger, blev han meget nedslået, og Herren blev vred. 11Moses sagde da til Herren: „Hvad har jeg gjort, siden jeg skal belemres med det her genstridige folk? 12De opfører sig som børn. Men det er ikke mig, der har sat dem i verden. Skal jeg virkelig bære dem i favnen, som en far bærer sit spædbarn, hele vejen til det land, du lovede deres forfædre? 13Hvor skal jeg få kød fra til alle de mennesker? De græder og plager mig om at få kød at spise. 14Jeg kan ikke klare at bære ansvaret for dette folk—det er for tung en byrde for mig. 15Hvis det skal være på den måde, foretrækker jeg, at du tager mit liv, så jeg kan slippe for denne elendighed.”
Gud lader sin Ånd komme over 70 ledere
16Da sagde Herren til Moses: „Tilkald 70 af folkets ledere og før dem hen til åbenbaringsteltets indgang. 17Så vil jeg komme ned og tale med dig, og jeg vil tage noget af den Ånd, der er over dig, og lade den komme over disse ledere, så de kan tage medansvar og løfte byrden sammen med dig. 18Samtidig skal du befale folket at hellige sig og være parate til i morgen, så skal de få kød at spise. Sig til dem: Herren har hørt jer klage over, at I ikke har kød at spise. Han har også hørt jer sige, at I havde det bedre i Egypten. Derfor vil han nu give jer kød at spise— 19ikke bare i morgen og i overmorgen, eller i de næste 5 eller 10 eller 20 dage— 20nej, I skal få kød i en hel måned, så det hænger jer langt ud af halsen, og I får kvalme bare ved tanken. For I har forkastet Herren, som er midt iblandt jer, og I har anklaget ham, fordi han førte jer ud af Egypten.”
21Men Moses indvendte: „Der er mere end 600.000 voksne mænd foruden kvinder og børn. Hvordan kan du love dem kød i en hel måned? 22Selv om vi slagter samtlige husdyr i lejren, er det ikke nok. Hvis det, du siger, skulle kunne gå i opfyldelse, måtte vi fange hver eneste fisk i havet.”
23Herren svarede: „Er noget umuligt for mig? Vent bare—så skal du få at se, om jeg står ved mit ord eller ej.”
24Så gik Moses ud og fortalte folket, hvad Herren havde sagt. Derpå udvalgte han 70 af folkets ledere og lod dem tage opstilling rundt om teltet. 25Da kom Herren ned i skyen for at tale med Moses, og han tog noget af den Ånd, der var over Moses, og lod den komme over de 70 ledere, som straks begyndte at profetere—noget som de dog kun gjorde denne ene gang.
26To mænd ved navn Eldad og Medad var ikke gået hen til teltet, selv om de hørte med blandt de udvalgte ledere. Alligevel kom Guds Ånd over dem, og de begyndte at profetere dér, hvor de befandt sig i lejren. 27En ung mand kom nu løbende hen til Moses og fortalte ham, hvad der var på færde. 28Josva, Nuns søn, der havde været Moses’ medhjælper fra sin ungdom, udbrød: „Mester, stands dem dog.” 29Men Moses svarede: „Hvorfor er du så nidkær på mine vegne? Jeg ville ønske, at hele folket var profeter, og at Herren ville lade sin Ånd komme over dem alle.” 30Så vendte Moses og Israels ledere tilbage til deres telte.
Gud udfører endnu et bespisningsunder
31Herren sendte nu en storm fra havet, og den drev en umådelig flok vagtler ind over lejren. Vagtlerne baskede rundt11,31 Eller: „lå”. Teksten er uklar. i to alens højde udenom lejren i en radius af en dagsrejse. 32Hele den dag og natten med og den næste dag havde folk travlt med at samle vagtler, som de lagde ud til tørring på jorden over hele lejren efter at have slagtet dem. Det mindste, der blev fanget af en enkelt person, var ca. 2200 liter. 33Men endnu mens de spiste kødet, slog Herrens vrede ud mod folket, så mange af dem omkom. 34Derfor kaldte man stedet „De Grådiges Grav”, fordi man her begravede dem, der havde været så grådige efter kød.
35Derfra rejste folket videre til Hatzerot, hvor de slog lejr.
Fire from the Lord
1Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. 3So that place was called Taberah,11:3 Taberah means burning. because fire from the Lord had burned among them.
Quail from the Lord
4The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! 5We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost – also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!’
7The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. 8The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand-mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. 9When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.
10Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11He asked the Lord, ‘Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, “Give us meat to eat!” 14I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me right now – if I have found favour in your eyes – and do not let me face my own ruin.’
16The Lord said to Moses: ‘Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Make them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.
18‘Tell the people: “Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!’ Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20but for a whole month – until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it – because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’ ” ’
21But Moses said, ‘Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, “I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!” 22Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?’
23The Lord answered Moses, ‘Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.’
24So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and made them stand round the tent. 25Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied – but did not do so again.
26However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27A young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’
28Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ assistant since youth, spoke up and said, ‘Moses, my lord, stop them!’
29But Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!’ 30Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits11:31 That is, about 90 centimetres deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. 32All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No-one gathered less than ten homers.11:32 That is, possibly about 1.6 metric tons Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah,11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah means graves of craving. because there they buried the people who had craved other food.
35From Kibroth Hattaavah the people travelled to Hazeroth and stayed there.
