The Lord Sends Fire Among the People
1The people weren’t happy about the hard times they were having. The Lord heard what they were saying. It made him very angry. Then the Lord sent fire on them. It blazed out among the people. It burned up some of the outer edges of the camp. 2The people cried out to Moses. Then he prayed to the Lord. And the fire died down. 3So that place was named Taberah. That’s because fire from the Lord had blazed out among them there.
The Lord Sends Quail for the People to Eat
4Some people with them began to wish for other food. Again the Israelites began to cry out. They said, “We wish we had meat to eat. 5We remember the fish we ate in Egypt. It didn’t cost us anything. We also remember the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6But now we’ve lost all interest in eating. We never see anything but this manna!”
7The manna was like coriander seeds. It looked like sap from a tree. 8The people went around gathering it. Then they ground it up in a small mill they held in their hands. Or they crushed it in a stone bowl. They cooked it in a pot. Or they made loaves out of it. It tasted like something made with olive oil. 9When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna also came down.
10Moses heard people from every family crying at the entrances to their tents. The Lord became very angry. So Moses became upset. 11He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on me? Why aren’t you pleased with me? Why have you loaded me down with the troubles of all these people? 12Am I like a mother to them? Are they my children? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms? Do I have to carry them the way a nurse carries a baby? Do I have to carry them to the land you promised? You promised the land to their people of long ago. 13Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep crying out to me. They say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14I can’t carry all these people by myself. The load is too heavy for me. 15Is this how you are going to treat me? If you are pleased with me, just put me to death right now. Don’t let me live if I have to see myself destroyed anyway.”
16The Lord said to Moses, “Bring me 70 of Israel’s elders. Bring men that you know are leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting. I want them to stand there with you. 17I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you. And I will put it on them. They will share the responsibility of these people with you. Then you will not have to carry it alone.
18“Tell the people, ‘Set yourselves apart for tomorrow. At that time you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out. You said, “We wish 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 or two days. You will not eat it for just five, ten or 20 days. 20Instead, you will eat it for a whole month. You will eat it until it comes out of your noses. You will eat it until you hate it. The Lord is among you. But you have turned your back on him. You have cried out while he was listening. You have said, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”
21But Moses said to the Lord, “Here I am among 600,000 men on the march. And you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month’! 22Would they have enough if flocks and herds were killed for them? Would they have enough even if all the fish in the ocean were caught for them?”
23The Lord answered Moses, “Am I not strong enough? Now you will see whether what I say will come true for you.”
24So Moses went out. He told the people what the Lord had said. He gathered 70 of their elders together. He had them stand around the tent of meeting. 25Then the Lord came down in the cloud. He spoke with Moses. He took some of the power of the Spirit that was on Moses. And he put it on the 70 elders. When the Spirit came on them, they prophesied. But they didn’t do it again.
26Two men had remained in the camp. Their names were Eldad and Medad. They were listed among the elders. But they didn’t go out to the tent of meeting. In spite of that, the Spirit came on them too. So they prophesied in the camp. 27A young man ran up to Moses. He said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28Joshua spoke up. He was the son of Nun. Joshua had been Moses’ helper from the time he was young. He said, “Moses! Please stop them!”
29But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for me? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets. And I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.” 30Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31The Lord sent out a wind. It drove quail in from the Red Sea. It scattered them all around the camp. They were about three feet above the ground. They could be seen in every direction as far as a person could walk in a day. 32The people went out all day and gathered quail. They gathered them all night and all the next day. No one gathered less than 60 bushels. Then they spread the quail out all around the camp. 33But while the meat was still in their mouths, the Lord acted. Before the people could swallow it, he became very angry with them. He struck them with a terrible plague. 34So the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah. That’s where the bodies of the people who had wished for other food were buried.
35From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth. And they stayed there.
以色列人发怨言
1民众因为困难而发怨言，传到耶和华耳中。耶和华听见后便向他们发怒，使火在他们中间燃烧，烧毁了营地的边缘部分。 2民众呼求摩西，摩西便向耶和华祷告，火就熄了。 3那地方叫他备拉，因为耶和华的火曾在他们中间燃烧。
4他们中间有一群乌合之众贪恋从前的食物，以色列人也哭着说：“要是有肉吃多好啊！ 5还记得在埃及的时候，我们不花钱就可以吃鱼，还有黄瓜、西瓜、韭菜、葱和蒜。 6我们现在毫无胃口，眼前除了吗哪外，什么都没有。” 7吗哪的形状像芫荽籽，又像珍珠。 8-9每天晚上露水降在营地上时，吗哪也随着降下来。早晨民众到四周捡吗哪，把吗哪磨碎或捣碎后，放在锅里煮，再做成饼，味道就像油饼。 10听见民众都在自己帐篷门口哭泣，惹耶和华发怒，摩西感到难过， 11就对耶和华说：“你为什么为难仆人？我做了什么令你不悦的事，你竟把管理这些民众的重担放在我身上？ 12难道他们是我的骨肉，是我生的吗？为什么你要我像父亲呵护儿子一样，把他们抱到你应许给他们祖先的地方呢？ 13他们都哭着向我要肉吃，我去哪里找肉给他们吃呢？ 14管理民众的责任实在是太重了，我一个人担当不起啊！ 15你既然这样对待我，求你施恩杀了我吧，别让我受苦了！”
16耶和华对摩西说：“你给我招聚七十个以色列人的长老——你所了解的首领，把他们带到会幕，让他们站在你身边。 17我要在那里降临，对你说话，把降在你身上的灵也赐给他们，让他们为你分担管理民众的责任，免得你独自承担。 18你要叫民众洁净自己，到明天就会有肉吃。因为我听见了他们哭着要肉吃、说埃及的日子更好，我必给他们肉吃。 19他们将不止吃一天、两天、五天、十天或二十天， 20而是要吃整整一个月，直到肉从他们鼻孔里喷出来，令他们厌腻。因为他们厌弃我，在我面前哭诉，后悔离开埃及。” 21摩西说：“和我同行的，仅男子就有六十万，你还说要让他们吃整整一个月的肉！ 22就是把牛羊都宰了，把海里的鱼都捕来，恐怕也不够他们吃！” 23耶和华说：“难道我的臂膀能力不够吗？你很快将看见我的话会不会应验。”
24摩西就出去把耶和华的话转告民众，又选了七十位长老，叫他们站在会幕周围。 25耶和华在云中降临，对摩西说话，把降在摩西身上的灵也赐给七十位长老。灵一降在他们身上，他们就说起预言来，但只说了这一次。 26七十位长老中的伊利达和米达没有到会幕去，但耶和华的灵也降在他们身上，他们就在营中说起预言来。 27有一个青年跑去禀告摩西说：“伊利达和米达正在营中说预言。” 28摩西拣选的助手——嫩的儿子约书亚就说：“我主摩西，请你禁止他们。” 29摩西说：“你是怕我的权威受影响吗？愿耶和华的子民都成为先知！愿耶和华把祂的灵降在他们身上！” 30之后，摩西和以色列的长老都返回营中。
耶和华赐下鹌鹑
31耶和华刮起一阵风，把鹌鹑从海面刮到营地四周，达一米之厚，方圆数公里。 32民众花了两天一夜的时间去捕捉鹌鹑，每人至少捉了一吨。他们把鹌鹑摊在营地的周围。 33他们口中的肉还没嚼烂，耶和华的怒气就已向他们发作，降下了大灾。 34因此，那地方叫基博罗·哈他瓦11:34 “基博罗·哈他瓦”意思是“贪欲之墓”。，因为那些贪食者埋葬在那里。 35民众从基博罗·哈他瓦前往哈洗录，在哈洗录住了下来。
