¶ And when¹ the people complained², it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire³ of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost⁴ parts of the camp.

And the people cried⁵ unto Moses; and when Moses prayed⁶ unto the LORD, the fire⁷ was quenched⁸.

And he called the name of the place Taberah⁹: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.

¶ And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting¹¹: and the children of Israel also wept again¹², and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

We remember the fish¹³, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers¹⁴, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

¹⁵But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

And the manna¹⁶ was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of¹⁷ bdellium.

And the people¹⁸ went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it¹⁹ in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it²⁰ was as the taste of fresh oil.

²¹And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

¶ Then Moses heard the people weep throughout²² their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger²³ of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses²⁴ also was displeased.

And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou²⁵ afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have²⁶ I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them²⁷ in thy bosom, as a nursing²⁸ father beareth the sucking child, unto the land²⁹ which thou swarest unto their fathers?

³⁰Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

³¹I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

And if thou deal thus with me, kill me,³² I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not³³ see my wretchedness³⁴.

¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy³⁵ men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers³⁶ over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

And I will come³⁷ down and talk with³⁸ thee there: and I will take³⁹ of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall⁴⁰ bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

And say thou unto the people, Sanctify⁴¹ yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept⁴² in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well⁴³ with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

¶⁴⁷But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered⁵⁰ together for them, to suffice them?

And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD'S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

¶ And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

⁵⁶And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.

But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

⁶²And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!

¶ And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

¶ And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.