Numbers 11:16–25

Seventy Elders Anointed

¹⁶The Lord answered Moses, “Bring Me 70 men from Israel known to you as elders and officers of the people. Take them to the tent of meeting and have them stand there with you. ¹⁷Then I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit who is on you and put the Spirit on them. ^rThey will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself. ^s

¹⁸“Tell the people: Purify yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you cried before the Lord: ‘Who will feed us meat? We really had it good in Egypt.’ The Lord will give you meat and you will eat. ¹⁹You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or 10 days, or 20 days, ²⁰but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and cried to Him: ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’ ” ^t

²¹But Moses replied, “I’m in the middle of a people with 600,000 foot soldiers, ^uyet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ ²²If flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” ^v

²³The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? ^wxYou will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you.”

²⁴Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He brought 70 men from the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. ²⁵Then the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him. ^yHe took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed the Spirit on the 70 elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, ^zbut they never did it again.