The Place Named Taberah

¹The people began to complain to the Lord about their troubles. When the Lord heard them, he became angry and sent fire on the people. It burned among them and destroyed one end of the camp.

²The people cried out to Moses for help; he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down.

³So the place was named Taberah, because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.

Moses Chooses Seventy Leaders

⁴There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: “If only we could have some meat!

⁵In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had?

⁶But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat—nothing but this manna day after day!”

⁷(Manna was like small seeds, whitish yellow in color.

^8-9It fell on the camp at night along with the dew. The next morning the people would go around and gather it, grind it or pound it into flour, and then boil it and make it into flat cakes. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil.)

¹⁰Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them,

¹¹and he said to the Lord, “Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people?

¹²I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors?

¹³Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat.

¹⁴I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me!

¹⁵If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer.”

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, “Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people, bring them to me at the Tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you.

¹⁷I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit I have given you and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people, and you will not have to bear it alone.

¹⁸Now tell the people, ‘Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it.

¹⁹You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days,

²⁰but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.’”

²¹Moses said to the Lord, “Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month?

²²Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?”

²³“Is there a limit to my power?” the Lord answered. “You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!”

²⁴So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them around the Tent.

²⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long.

²⁶Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp and had not gone out to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets.

²⁷A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing.

²⁸Then Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' helper since he was a young man, spoke up and said to Moses, “Stop them, sir!”

²⁹Moses answered, “Are you concerned about my interests? I wish that the Lord would give his spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!”

³⁰Then Moses and the seventy leaders of Israel went back to camp.

The Lord Sends Quails

³¹Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction.

³²So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp.

³³While there was still plenty of meat for them to eat, the Lord became angry with the people and caused an epidemic to break out among them.

³⁴That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (which means “Graves of Craving”), because there they buried the people who had craved meat.

³⁵From there the people moved to Hazeroth, where they made camp.

Moses Receives the Commandments Again

¹“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and make a wooden Box to put them in. Come up to me on the mountain,

²and I will write on those tablets what I wrote on the tablets that you broke, and then you are to put them in the Box.’

³“So I made a Box of acacia wood and cut two stone tablets like the first ones and took them up the mountain.

⁴Then the Lord wrote on those tablets the same words that he had written the first time, the Ten Commandments that he gave you when he spoke from the fire on the day you were gathered at the mountain. The Lord gave me the tablets,

⁵and I turned and went down the mountain. Then, just as the Lord had commanded, I put them in the Box that I had made—and they have been there ever since.”

⁶(The Israelites set out from the wells that belonged to the people of Jaakan, and went to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar succeeded him as priest.

⁷From there they went to Gudgodah and then on to Jotbathah, a well-watered place.

⁸At that time the Lord appointed the men of the tribe of Levi to be in charge of the Covenant Box, to serve him as priests, and to pronounce blessings in his name. And these are still their duties.

⁹That is why the tribe of Levi received no land as the other tribes did; what they received was the privilege of being the Lord's priests, as the Lord your God promised.)

¹⁰“I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time. The Lord listened to me once more and agreed not to destroy you.

¹¹Then he told me to go and lead you, so that you could take possession of the land that he had promised to give to your ancestors.

What God Demands

¹²“Now, people of Israel, listen to what the Lord your God demands of you: Worship the Lord and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart,

¹³and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit.

¹⁴To the Lord belong even the highest heavens; the earth is his also, and everything on it.

¹⁵But the Lord's love for your ancestors was so strong that he chose you instead of any other people, and you are still his chosen people.

¹⁶So then, from now on be obedient to the Lord and stop being stubborn.

¹⁷The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes.

¹⁸He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes.

¹⁹So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt.

²⁰Have reverence for the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone.

²¹Praise him—he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you.

²²When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

A Song of Praise

¹All you that are righteous, shout for joy for what the Lord has done; praise him, all you that obey him.

²Give thanks to the Lord with harps, sing to him with stringed instruments.

³Sing a new song to him, play the harp with skill, and shout for joy!

⁴The words of the Lord are true, and all his works are dependable.

⁵The Lord loves what is righteous and just; his constant love fills the earth.

⁶The Lord created the heavens by his command, the sun, moon, and stars by his spoken word.

⁷He gathered all the seas into one place; he shut up the ocean depths in storerooms.

⁸Worship the Lord, all the earth! Honor him, all peoples of the world!

⁹When he spoke, the world was created; at his command everything appeared.

¹⁰The Lord frustrates the purposes of the nations; he keeps them from carrying out their plans.

¹¹But his plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally.

¹²Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord; happy are the people he has chosen for his own!

¹³The Lord looks down from heaven and sees all of us humans.

¹⁴From where he rules, he looks down on all who live on earth.

¹⁵He forms all their thoughts and knows everything they do.

¹⁶A king does not win because of his powerful army; a soldier does not triumph because of his strength.

¹⁷War horses are useless for victory; their great strength cannot save.

¹⁸The Lord watches over those who obey him, those who trust in his constant love.

¹⁹He saves them from death; he keeps them alive in times of famine.

²⁰We put our hope in the Lord; he is our protector and our help.

²¹We are glad because of him; we trust in his holy name.

²²May your constant love be with us, Lord, as we put our hope in you.