Numbers 11

¹Yn the meene tyme the grutchyng of the puple, as of men sorewynge for trauel, roos ayens the Lord. And whanne Moises hadde herd this thing, he was wrooth; and the fier of the Lord was kyndelid on hem, and deuouride the laste part of the tentis.

²And whanne the puple hadde cried to Moises, Moises preiede the Lord, and the fier was quenchid.

³And he clepid the name of that place Brennyng, for the fier of the Lord was kyndlid ayens hem.

⁴And the comyn puple of `malis and femalis, that hadde stied with hem, brent with desire of fleischis , and sat, and wepte with the sones of Israel ioyned togidere to hem, and seide, Who schal yyue to vs fleischis to ete?

⁵We thenken on the fischis whiche we eten in Egipt freli; gourdis, and melouns, and lekis, and oyniouns, and garlekis comen in to mynde `to vs;

⁶oure soule is drie ; oure iyen byholden noon other thing `no but manna.

⁷Forsothe manna was as the seed of coriaundre, of the colour of bdellyum, which is whijt and briyt as cristal.

⁸And the puple yede aboute, and gaderide it, and brak with a queerne stoon, ether pownede in a morter, and sethide in a pot; and made therof litle cakis of the sauour, as of breed maad with oile.

⁹And whanne dew cam doun in the niyt on the tentis, also manna cam doun togidere.

¹⁰Therfor Moises herde the puple wepynge bi meynees, and `alle bi hem silf bi the doris of her tentis; and the woodnesse of the Lord was wrooth greetli, but also the thing was seyn vnsuffrable to Moises.

¹¹And he seide to the Lord, Whi hast thou turmentid thi seruaunt? whi fynde Y not grace bifor thee? and whi hast thou put on me the burthun of al this puple?

¹²whethir Y conseyuede al this multitude, ethir gendride it, that thou seie to me, Bere thou hem in thi bosum as a nurise is wont to bere a litil yong child, and bere thou in to the lond for which thou hast swore to the fadris `of hem.

¹³wherof ben fleischis to me, that Y `yyue to so greet multitude? Thei wepen bifore me, and seyn, `Yyue thou fleischis to vs that we ete;

¹⁴I mai not aloone suffre al this puple, for it is greuouse to me.

¹⁵If in other maner it semeth to thee, Y biseche that thou sle me, and that Y fynde grace in thin iyen, that Y be not punyschid bi so grete yuelis.

¹⁶And the Lord seide to Moises, Gadere thou to me seuenti men of the eldre men of Israel, whiche thou knowist, `that thei ben the elde men and maistris of the puple; and thou schalt lede hem to the dore of the tabernacle of boond of pees, and thou schalt make to stonde there with thee,

¹⁷that Y come doun, and speke to thee; and Y schal take awey of thi spirit , and Y schal yyue to hem, that thei susteyne with thee the birthun of the puple, and not thou aloone be greuyd.

¹⁸And thou schalt seie to the puple, Be ye halewid; to morew ye schulen ete fleischis; for Y herde you seie, Who schal yyue to vs the metis of fleischis? it was wel to vs in Egipt; that the Lord yyue `fleischis to you,

¹⁹and that ye ete not o dai, ethir tweyne, ethir fyue, ethir ten, sotheli nether twenti,

²⁰but `til to a monethe of daies, til it go out bi youre nosethirlis, and turne in to wlatyng; for ye han put awei the Lord, which is in the myddis of you, and ye wepten bifor hym, and seiden, Whi yeden we out of Egipt?

²¹And Moises seide to the Lord, Sixe hundrid thousynde of foot men ben of this puple, and thou seist, Y schal yyue to hem `mete of fleischis an hool monethe.

²²Whether the multitude of scheep and of oxun schal be slayn, that it may suffice to mete, ethir alle the fischis of the see schulen be gaderid to gidere, that tho fille hem?

²³To whom the Lord answeride, Whether the `hond of the Lord is vnmyyti? riyt now thou schalt se, wher my word schal be fillid in werk.

²⁴Therfor Moises cam, and telde to the puple the wordis of the Lord; and he gaderide seuenti men of the eldere of Israel, whiche he made stonde aboute the tabernacle.

²⁵And the Lord cam doun bi a cloude, and spak to Moises, and took a weye of the spirit that was in Moises, and yaf to the seuenti men; and whanne the spirit hadde restid in hem, thei profesieden, and ceessiden not `aftirward.

²⁶Forsothe twei men dwelliden stille in the tentis , of whiche men oon was clepid Heldad, and the tothir Medad, on whiche the spirit restide; for also thei weren descryued, and thei yeden not out to the tabernacle.

²⁷And whanne thei profesieden in the tentis, a child ran, and teld to Moises, and seide, Heldad and Medad profecien in the tentis.

²⁸Anoon Josue, the sone of Nun, the `mynystre of Moises, and chosun of manye, seide, My lord Moises, forbede thou hem.

²⁹And he seide, What hast thou enuye for me? who yyueth that al the puple profesie, and that God yyue his spirit to hem?

³⁰And Moises turnede ayen, and the eldre men in birthe of Israel in to the tentis.

³¹Forsothe a wynde yede forth fro the Lord, and took curlewis, and bar ouer the see, and lefte in to the tentis, in the iurney, as myche as mai be parformed in o day, bi ech part of the tentis bi cumpas; and tho flowen in the eir bi twei cubitis in `hiynesse ouer the erthe.

³²Therfor the puple roos in al that dai and nyyt and in to the tothir dai, and gaderide the multitude of curlewis; he that gaderide litil, gaderide ten `mesuris clepid chorus; `and o chorus conteyneth ten buschels; and thei drieden tho curlewis bi the cumpas of the tentis.

³³Yit `fleischis weren in the teeth `of hem, and siche mete failide not; and lo! the woodnesse of the Lord was reisid ayens the puple, and smoot it with a ful greet veniaunce.

³⁴And thilke place was clepid The sepulcris of coueitise , for there thei birieden the puple that desiride fleischis. Sotheli thei yeden `out of the sepulcris of coueitise, and camen in to Asseroth, and dwelliden there.

Numbers 11

¹And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

²And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.

³And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them.

⁴And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

⁵We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

⁶But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

⁷And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.

⁸And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

⁹And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

¹⁰Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

¹¹And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

¹²Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?

¹³Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

¹⁴I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

¹⁵And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

¹⁶And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

¹⁷And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

¹⁸And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

¹⁹Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

²⁰But 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?

²¹And 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.

²²Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?

²³And 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.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶But 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.

²⁷And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

²⁸And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

²⁹And 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!

³⁰And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

³¹And 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.

³²And 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.

³³And 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.

³⁴And he called the name of that place Kibroth–hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

³⁵And the people journeyed from Kibroth–hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.