Numbers 11:4–23

⁴Now the ^zrabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also ^awept again and said, ^b“Oh that we had meat to eat! ^5cWe remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

⁷Now ^dthe manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. ^8eThe people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. ^fAnd the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. ^9gWhen the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

¹⁰Moses heard the people ^hweeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. ¹¹ⁱMoses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ¹²Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ^j‘Carry them in your bosom, as a ^knurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land ^lthat you swore to give their fathers? ^13mWhere am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ ¹⁴ⁿI am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. ¹⁵If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”

Elders Appointed to Aid Moses

¹⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me ^oseventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and ^pofficers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. ^17qAnd I will come down and talk with you there. And ^rI will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and ^sthey shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. ¹⁸And say to the people, ^t‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? ^uFor it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰but a whole month, ^vuntil it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, ^w“Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ” ²¹But Moses said, ^x“The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ ^22yShall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” ²³And the Lord said to Moses, ^z“Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether ^amy word will come true for you or not.”