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.
以色列人發怨言
1民眾因為困難而發怨言，傳到耶和華耳中。耶和華聽見後便向他們發怒，使火在他們中間燃燒，燒毀了營地的邊緣部分。 2民眾呼求摩西，摩西便向耶和華禱告，火就熄了。 3那地方叫他備拉，因為耶和華的火曾在他們中間燃燒。
4他們中間有一群烏合之眾貪戀美食，以色列人也哭著說：「要是有肉吃多好啊！ 5還記得在埃及的時候，我們不花錢就可以吃魚，還有黃瓜、西瓜、韭菜、蔥和蒜。 6我們現在毫無胃口，眼前除了嗎哪外，什麼都沒有。」 7嗎哪的形狀像芫荽籽，又像珍珠。 8-9每天晚上露水降在營地上時，嗎哪也隨著降下來。早晨民眾到四周撿嗎哪，把嗎哪用磨磨碎或在臼中搗碎後，放在鍋裡煮，再做成餅，味道就像油餅。 10摩西感到難過，因為他聽見民眾都在自己帳篷門口哭泣，以致耶和華大發烈怒。 11他對耶和華說：「你為什麼苦待僕人？我做了什麼令你不悅的事，你竟把管理這些民眾的重擔放在我身上？ 12難道是我孕育生養了他們嗎？為什麼你要我像父親呵護吃奶的嬰兒一樣，把他們抱到你應許給他們祖先的地方呢？ 13他們都哭著向我要肉吃，我去哪裡找肉給他們吃呢？ 14管理民眾的責任實在是太重了，我一個人擔當不起啊！ 15你既然這樣對待我，求你施恩殺了我吧，別讓我受苦了！」
16耶和華對摩西說：「你給我招聚七十個以色列人的長老，就是你所瞭解的長老和首領，把他們帶到會幕，讓他們站在你身邊。 17我要在那裡降臨，對你說話，把降在你身上的靈也賜給他們，讓他們為你分擔管理民眾的責任，免得你獨自承擔。 18你要叫民眾潔淨自己，明天就會有肉吃。因為我聽見了他們哭著要肉吃、說埃及的日子更好，我必給他們肉吃。 19他們將不止吃一天、兩天、五天、十天或二十天， 20而是要吃整整一個月，直到肉從他們鼻孔裡噴出來，令他們厭膩。因為他們厭棄住在他們中間的我，在我面前哭訴，後悔離開埃及。」 21摩西說：「和我同行的，僅男子就有六十萬，你還說要讓他們吃整整一個月的肉！ 22就是把牛羊都宰了，夠他們吃嗎？就是把海裡的魚都捕來，夠他們吃嗎？」 23耶和華說：「難道我的臂膀短小無力嗎？你很快將看見我的話會不會應驗。」
24摩西就出去把耶和華的話轉告民眾，又召集了七十位長老，叫他們站在會幕周圍。 25耶和華在雲中降臨，對摩西說話，把降在摩西身上的靈也賜給七十位長老。靈一降在他們身上，他們就說起預言來，但只說了這一次。 26七十位長老中的伊利達和米達沒有到會幕去，但耶和華的靈也降在他們身上，他們就在營中說起預言來。 27有一個青年跑去稟告摩西說：「伊利達和米達正在營中說預言。」 28摩西揀選的助手嫩的兒子約書亞就說：「我主摩西，請你禁止他們。」 29摩西說：「你是為我的緣故而嫉妒嗎？願耶和華的子民都成為先知！願耶和華把祂的靈降在他們身上！」 30之後，摩西和以色列的長老都返回營中。
耶和華賜下鵪鶉
31耶和華颳起一陣風，把鵪鶉從海面颳到營地四周，約一米厚，方圓數公里。 32民眾花了兩天一夜的時間去捕捉鵪鶉，每人至少捉了一噸半。他們把鵪鶉攤在營地的周圍。 33他們口中的肉還沒嚼爛，耶和華的怒氣就已向他們發作，降下了大災。 34因此，那地方叫基博羅·哈他瓦11·34 「基博羅·哈他瓦」意思是「貪慾之墓」。，因為那些貪食之徒埋葬在那裡。 35民眾從基博羅·哈他瓦前往哈洗錄，在哈洗錄住了下來。
