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—if I have found favor 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. Have 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 had them stand around 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’ aide 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 3 feet or about 90 centimeters 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 3/4 tons or 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 traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.
ከእግዚአብሔር የወረደ እሳት
1በዚህ ጊዜ ሕዝቡ ስለ ደረሰባቸው ችግር በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ላይ አጕረመረሙ፤ እግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ) ማጕረምረማቸውን በሰማ ጊዜ በጣም ተቈጣ፤ ከዚያም የእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እሳት በመካከላቸው ነደደች፤ ከሰፈሩም ዳርቻ ጥቂቱን በላች። 2ሕዝቡ ወደ ሙሴ ጮኸ፤ ሙሴም ወደ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ጸለየ፤ እሳቲቱም ጠፋች። 3ከዚህ የተነሣም የቦታው ስም፣ “ተቤራ”11፥3 ተቤራ ማለት ማቃጠል ማለት ነው። ተባለ፤ የእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እሳት በመካከላቸው ነዳለችና።
እግዚአብሔር ለእስራኤላውያን የላከላቸው ድርጭት
4ድብልቁ ሕዝብ ሌላ ምግብ ጐመጀ፤ እስራኤላውያንም እንዲህ እያሉ ያጕረመርሙ ጀመር፤ “ምነው የምንበላው ሥጋ ባገኘን ኖሮ! 5በግብፅ ያለ ምንም ዋጋ የበላነው ዓሣ እንዲሁም ዱባው፣ በጢኹ፣ ኵራቱ፣ ነጭ ሽንኵርቱ ትዝ ይለናል። 6አሁን ግን የምግብ ፍላጎታችን ጠፍቷል፤ ከዚህ መና በስተቀር የምናየው የለም!”
7መናው እንደ ድንብላል ዘር ትንንሽ ሆኖ የሙጫ መልክ ነበረው። 8ሕዝቡ ተዘዋውሮ በመልቀም በወፍጮ ከፈጨ ወይም በሙቀጫ ከወቀጠ በኋላ በምንቸት ይቀቅለው ወይም ይጋግረው ነበር፤ ጣዕሙም በወይራ ዘይት የተጋገረ ያህል ይጣፍጥ ነበር። 9ጤዛው ሌሊት በሰፈር ላይ በሚወርድበት ጊዜ መናውም እንዲሁ ይወርድ ነበር።
10ሙሴ፣ ሕዝቡ ሁሉ በየቤተ ሰቡ፣ በየድንኳኑ ደጃፍ ሆኖ ሲያለቅስ ሰማ። እግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ) እጅግ ተቈጣ፤ ሙሴም ተጨነቀ። 11እርሱም እግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) እንዲህ ሲል ጠየቀው፤ “እንዲህ ያለውን መከራ በባሪያህ ላይ ለምን አመጣህ? የዚህን ሕዝብ ሁሉ ሸክም የጫንህብኝስ ምን አስቀይሜህ ነው? 12ይህን ሁሉ ሕዝብ የፀነስሁት እኔ ነኝን? እኔስ ወለድሁትን? ታዲያ ሞግዚት ሕፃን እንደምትታቀፍ በክንዴ ታቅፌ ለቀድሞ አባቶቻቸው ትሰጣቸው ዘንድ በመሐላ ቃል ወደ ገባህላቸው ምድር እንዳስገባቸው የምትነግረኝ ለምንድን ነው? 13ለዚህ ሁሉ ሕዝብስ ሥጋ ከወዴት አመጣለሁ? ሁሉም ‘የምንበላው ሥጋ ስጠን’ እያሉ ያለቅሱብኛል። 14እጅግ ከብዶኛልና ይህን ሁሉ ሕዝብ ብቻዬን ልሸከም አልችልም። 15እንዲህስ ከምታደርገኝ በፊትህ ሞገስ አግኝቼ እንደ ሆነ አሁኑኑ ግደለኝ፤ የሚደርስብኝን ጥፋት አልይ።”
16እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሙሴን እንዲህ አለው፤ “በሕዝቡ መካከል በመሪነትና በእልቅና ብቃት አላቸው የምትላቸውን ሰባ የእስራኤል ሽማግሌዎች አምጣልኝ፤ ካንተም ጋር ይቆሙ ዘንድ ወደ መገናኛው ድንኳን እንዲመጡ አድርግ። 17ወደዚያም ወርጄ አነጋግርሃለሁ፤ ባንተ ላይ ካለው መንፈስ ወስጄ በእነርሱ ላይ አደርጋለሁ፤ የሕዝቡንም ሸክም ብቻህን እንዳትሸከም እነርሱ ያግዙሃል።
18“ለሕዝቡ እንዲህ ብለህ ንገራቸው፤ ‘ነገ ሥጋ ትበላላችሁና ራሳችሁን በመቀደስ ተዘጋጁ። “በግብፅ ተመችቶን ነበር፤ አሁን ግን ሥጋ ማን ይሰጠናል!” ብላችሁ ያለቀሳችሁትን እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሰምቷል፤ ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሥጋ ይሰጣችኋል፤ እናንተም ትበላላችሁ። 19የምትበሉትም ለአንድ ወይም ለሁለት ቀን ወይም ለአምስት፣ ለዐሥር ወይም ለሃያ ቀን አይደለም፤ 20ነገር ግን በአፍንጫችሁ እስኪወጣና እስኪያንገፈግፋችሁ ድረስ ወር ሙሉ ትበሉታላችሁ፤ በመካከላችሁ ያለውን እግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) ንቃችሁ በፊቱ፣ “ለምን ከግብፅ ወጣን?” ብላችሁ አልቅሳችኋልና።’ ”
21ሙሴ ግን እንዲህ አለ፤ “እነሆ እኔ በስድስት መቶ ሺሕ እግረኛ መካከል እገኛለሁ፤ አንተ ደግሞ ‘ወር ሙሉ የሚበሉትን ሥጋ እኔ እሰጣቸዋለሁ’ ብለሃል፤ 22ታዲያ ስንት የበግ፣ የፍየልና የከብት መንጋ ቢታረድላቸው ይበቃ ይሆን? በባሕር ያለው ዓሣ ሁሉ ቢያዝ ሊዳረሳቸው ይችላልን?”
23እግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ) ለሙሴ፣ “በውኑ የእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ክንድ ይህን ያህል ዐጭር ነውን? የነገርሁህ ቃል እውነት መሆን አለመሆኑን አሁኑኑ ታየዋለህ” ሲል መለሰለት።
24ሙሴም ወጣና እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ያለውን ለሕዝቡ ነገራቸው፤ ከሕዝቡም ሽማግሌዎች ሰባውን ሰብስቦ በድንኳኑ ዙሪያ እንዲቆሙ አደረጋቸው። 25ከዚያም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) በደመና ወርዶ ተናገረው፤ በሙሴ ላይ ከነበረውም መንፈስ ወስዶ በሰባው ሽማግሌዎች ላይ አሳደረባቸው፤ መንፈሱ ባደረባቸውም ጊዜ ትንቢት ተናገሩ፤ ከዚያ በኋላ ግን አልደገሙትም።11፥25 ትንቢት ተናገሩ፤ ከዚያ በኋላም ትንቢት መናገራቸውን አላቆሙም የሚሉ አሉ።
26ኤልዳድና ሞዳድ የተባሉ ሁለት ሰዎች ግን ሰፈር ውስጥ ቀርተው ነበር፤ እነርሱም ከሽማግሌዎቹ ጋር ተቈጥረው ሳለ ወደ ድንኳኑ አልሄዱም ነበር፤ ሆኖም የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ በእነርሱም ላይ ስላደረባቸው ሰፈር ውስጥ እያሉ ትንቢት ተናገሩ። 27አንድ ወጣትም ሮጦ በመሄድ፣ “ኤልዳድና ሞዳድ ሰፈር ውስጥ ትንቢት ይናገራሉ” ብሎ ለሙሴ ነገረው።
28ከወጣትነቱ ጀምሮ የሙሴ ረዳት የነበረው የነዌ ልጅ ኢያሱም ተነሥቶ፣ “ጌታዬ ሙሴ ሆይ፤ ከልክላቸው እንጂ” ሲል ተናገረ።
29ሙሴ ግን መልሶ፣ “ስለ እኔ ተቈርቍረህ ነውን? የእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሕዝብ ሁሉ ነቢያት ቢሆኑ፣ እግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ) መንፈሱን ቢያሳድርባቸው ምንኛ ደስ ባለኝ!” አለ፤ 30ከዚያም ሙሴና የእስራኤል ሽማግሌዎች ወደ ሰፈር ተመለሱ።
31በዚህ ጊዜ ነፋስ ከእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ዘንድ ወጥቶ ድርጭቶችን ከባሕር ወደ ሰፈር አመጣ፤ በየአቅጣጫውም ከፍታው ሁለት ክንድ፣11፥31 አንድ ሜትር ያህል ነው። ርቀቱም የአንድ ቀን መንገድ ያህል እስኪሆን ድረስ በሰፈሩ ዙሪያ ከመራቸው። 32በዚያን ዕለት ቀንና ሌሊቱን በሙሉ፣ በማግሥቱም ሙሉውን ቀን እንደዚሁ ሕዝቡ ወጥቶ ድርጭቶች ሰበሰበ፤ ከዐሥር የቆሮስ መስፈሪያ ያነሰ የሰበሰበ ማንም አልነበረም፤ የሰበሰቡትንም በሰፈሩ ዙሪያ ሁሉ አሰጡት። 33ነገር ግን ሥጋው ገና በጥርስና በጥርሳቸው መካከል ሳለ አላምጠው ሳይውጡት የእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ቍጣ በላያቸው ነደደ፤ እግዚአብሔርም ሕዝቡን በታላቅ መቅሠፍት ክፉኛ መታ። 34ሌላ ምግብ ለማግኘት የጐመጁትን ሰዎች በዚያ ስለ ቀበሯቸው የቦታው ስም “ቂብሮት ሃታአባ”11፥34 የምኞት መቃብር ማለት ነው። ተባለ።
35ሕዝቡም ከቂብሮት ሃታአባ ወደ ሐጼሮት ተጕዘው እዚያው ሰፈሩ።
