Numbers 9:15–12:16
15 Now on athe day that the tabernacle was erected bthe cloud covered the tabernacle, the ctent of the testimony, and din the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle, until morning.
16 So it was continuously; athe cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
17 aWhenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp.
18 At the 1command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the 1command of the Lord they would camp; aas long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped.
19 Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, 1the sons of Israel would keep the Lord’s charge and not set out.
20 If 1sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, aaccording to the 2command of the Lord they remained camped. Then according to the 2command of the Lord they set out.
21 If 1sometimes the cloud 2remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.
22 Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but awhen it was lifted, they did set out.
23 aAt the 1command of the Lord they camped, and at the 1command of the Lord they set out; they kept the Lord’s charge, according to the 1command of the Lord through Moses.
1 The Lord spoke further to Moses, saying,
2 “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for asummoning the congregation and for having the camps set out.
3 “aWhen both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
4 “Yet if only one is blown, then the aleaders, the heads of the 1divisions of Israel, shall assemble before you.
5 “But when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched aon the east side shall set out.
6 “When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on athe south side shall set out; an alarm is to be blown for them to set out.
7 “When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow without asounding an alarm.
8 “aThe priestly sons of Aaron, moreover, shall blow the trumpets; and 1this shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations.
9 “When you go to war in your land against the adversary who aattacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be bremembered before the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies.
10 “Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed 1feasts, and on the first days of your months, ayou shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”
11 Now in athe second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the 1tabernacle of the testimony;
12 and the sons of Israel set out on atheir journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled down in the bwilderness of Paran.
13 aSo they moved out for the first time according to the 1commandment of the Lord through Moses.
14 The standard of the camp of the sons of Judah, according to their armies, aset out first, with Nahshon the son of Amminadab, over its army,
15 and Nethanel the son of Zuar, over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar;
16 and Eliab the son of Helon over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.
17 aThen the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out.
18 Next athe standard of the camp of Reuben, according to their armies, set out with Elizur the son of Shedeur, over its army,
19 and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon,
20 and Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.
21 aThen the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects; and bthe tabernacle was set up before their arrival.
22 aNext the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim, according to their armies, was set out, with Elishama the son of Ammihud over its army,
23 and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh;
24 and Abidan the son of Gideoni over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.
25 aThen the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the brear guard for all the camps, set out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai over its army,
26 and Pagiel the son of Ochran over the tribal army of the sons of Asher;
27 and Ahira the son of Enan over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali.
28 1This was the order of march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they set out.
29 Then Moses said to aHobab the son of bReuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘cI will give it to you’; dcome with us and we will do you good, for the Lord ehas 1promised good concerning Israel.”
30 But he said to him, “aI will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.”
31 Then he said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you awill be as eyes for us.
32 “So it will be, if you go with us, that 1awhatever good the Lord 2does for us, bwe will 3do for you.”
33 aThus they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, with bthe ark of the covenant of the Lord journeying in front of them for the 1three days, to seek out ca resting place for them.
34 aThe cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.
35 Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said,
“aRise up, O Lord!
And let Your enemies be scattered,
And let those bwho hate You flee 1before You.”
36 When it came to rest, he said,
“aReturn, O Lord,
To the myriad bthousands of Israel.”
1 Now the people became like athose who complain of adversity bin the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
2 aThe people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire 1died out.
3 So the name of that place was called 1aTaberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
4 The arabble who were among them 1had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “bWho will give us 2meat to eat?
5 “aWe remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,
6 but now aour 1appetite is gone. There is nothing at all 2to look at except this manna.”
7 aNow the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bbdellium.
8 The people would go about and gather it and grind it 1between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of 2cakes baked with oil.
9 aWhen the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall 1with it.
10 Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, and 1Moses was displeased.
11 aSo Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You 1been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me?
12 “Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a 1anurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which bYou swore to their fathers’?
13 “Where am I to get meat to give to aall this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’
14 “aI alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too 1burdensome for me.
15 “aSo if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”
16 The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me aseventy men from the elders of Israel, bwhom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.
17 “aThen I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of bthe Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.
18 “Say to the people, ‘aConsecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept bin the ears of the Lord, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat.
19 ‘You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
20 1but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because ayou have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”
21 But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’
22 “Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”
23 The Lord said to Moses, “Is athe Lord’s 1power limited? Now you shall see whether bMy word will 2come true for you or not.”
24 So Moses went out and atold the people the words of the Lord. Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and stationed them around the tent.
25 aThen the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was …