Numbers · Catholic Public Domain Version
Numbers 11 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
1 Meanwhile, there arose a murmur among the people against the Lord, as if they were grief-stricken because of their labors. And when the Lord had heard it, he was angry. And when the fire of the Lord was enflamed against them, it devoured those who were at the extreme end of the camp.
1 The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
2 And when the people had cried out to Moses, Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was consumed.
2 The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated.
3 And he called the name of that place, ‘The Burning,’ because the fire of the Lord had burned against them.
3 The name of that place was called Taberah, because Yahweh’s fire burned among them.
4 So then, the mix of common people, who had ascended with them, were enflamed with desire, and sitting and weeping, with the sons of Israel joining them, they said, “Who will give us flesh to eat?
4 The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?
5 We remember the fish that we ate freely in Egypt; we call to mind the cucumbers, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic.
5 We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
6 Our life is dry; our eyes look out to see nothing but manna.”
6 but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.”
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, but with the color of bdellium.
7 The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium.
8 And the people wandered about, gathering it, and they crushed it with a millstone, or ground it with a mortar; then they boiled it in a pot, and made biscuits out of it, with a taste like bread made with oil.
8 The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil.
9 And when the dew descended in the night over the camp, the manna descended together with it.
9 When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
10 And so, Moses heard the people weeping by their families, each one at the door of his tent. And the fury of the Lord was greatly enflamed. And to Moses also the matter seemed intolerable.
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased.
11 And so he said to the Lord: “Why have you afflicted your servant? Why do I not find favor before you? And why have you imposed the weight of this entire people upon me?
11 Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?
12 Could I have conceived this entire multitude, or have given birth to them, so that you might say to me: Carry them in your bosom, as a nursemaid usually carries a little infant, and bring them into the land, about which you have sworn to their fathers?
12 Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers’?
13 From where would I obtain the flesh to give to so great a multitude? They weep against me, saying, ‘Give us flesh, so that we may eat.’
13 Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’
14 I alone am unable to sustain this entire people, because it is too heavy for me.
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 But if it seems to you otherwise, I beg you to put me to death, and so may I find grace in your eyes, lest I be afflicted with such evils.”
15 If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
16 And the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders, as well as teachers, of the people. And you shall lead them to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and you shall cause them to stand there with you,
16 Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 so that I may descend and speak to you. And I will take from your spirit, and I will deliver it to them, so that, with you, they may sustain the burden of the people, and so that you will not be weighed down alone.
17 I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.
18 You shall also say to the people: Be sanctified. Tomorrow you will eat flesh. For I have heard you say: ‘Who will give us flesh to eat? It was well with us in Egypt.’ So then, may the Lord give you flesh. And you will eat,
18 “Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat.
19 not for one day, nor for two, nor for five, nor for ten, nor even for twenty,
19 You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days,
20 but for up to a month of days, until it exits from your nostrils, and until it turns into nausea for you, because you have slipped away from the Lord, who is in your midst, and because you have wept before him, saying: ‘Why did we go forth out of Egypt?’ ”
20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
21 And Moses said: “There are six hundred thousand footmen of this people, and yet you say, ‘I will give them flesh to eat for a whole month.’
21 Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’
22 Could a multitude of sheep and oxen be slain, so that there would be enough food? Or will the fishes of the sea be gathered together, in order to satisfy them?”
22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”
23 And the Lord answered him: “Can the hand of the Lord be ineffective? Soon now, you shall see whether my word will be fulfilled in this work.”
23 Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”
24 And so, Moses went and explained the words of the Lord to the people. Gathering together seventy men from the elders of Israel, he caused them to stand around the tabernacle.
24 Moses went out, and told the people Yahweh’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent.
25 And the Lord descended in a cloud, and he spoke to him, taking from the Spirit which was in Moses, and giving to the seventy men. And when the Spirit had rested in them, they prophesied; nor did they cease afterwards.
25 Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.
26 Now there had remained in the camp two of the men, of whom one was called Eldad, and the other Medad, upon whom the Spirit rested; for they also had been enrolled, but they did not go forth to the tabernacle.
26 But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.
27 And when they were prophesying in the camp, a boy ran and reported to Moses, saying: “Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp.”
27 A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”
28 Promptly, Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses and chosen from many, said: “My lord Moses, prohibit them.”
28 Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!”
29 But he said, “Why are you jealous on my behalf? Who decides that any of the people may prophesy and that God may give to them his Spirit?”
29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!”
30 And Moses returned, with those greater by birth of Israel, into the camp.
30 Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 Then a wind, going out from the Lord and moving forcefully across the sea, brought quails and cast them into the camp, across a distance of one day’s journey, in every part of the camp all around, and they flew in the air two cubits high above the ground.
31 A wind from Yahweh went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth.
32 Therefore, the people, rising up, gathered quails all that day and night, and the next day; he who did least well gathered ten homers. And they dried them throughout the camp.
32 The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp.
33 The flesh was still between their teeth, neither had this kind of food ceased, and behold, the fury of the Lord was provoked against the people, and he struck them with an exceedingly great scourge.
33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very great plague.
34 And that place was called, ‘The Graves of Lust.’ For there, they buried the people who had desired. Then, departing from the Graves of Lust, they arrived in Hazeroth, and they stayed there.
34 The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted. 35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Eldad
One of two men who remained in the camp when the seventy elders went out to the Tent, yet received the Spirit like them and prophesied in the camp.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 11:26–27
Medad
One of two men who remained in the camp when the seventy elders went out to the Tent, yet received the Spirit like them and prophesied in the camp.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 11:26–27
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (31)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Numbers 21:5; 2 Kings 1:12; Numbers 16:35; Exodus 16:9; 1 Corinthians 10:10
- 2 Numbers 21:7; James 5:16; Numbers 16:45–48; Exodus 32:31–32; Exodus 32:10–14
- 3 Deuteronomy 9:22
- 4 1 Corinthians 10:6; Exodus 12:38; Psalm 106:14; Psalm 78:18–20; 1 Corinthians 15:33
- 5 Exodus 16:3; Psalm 17:14; Philippians 3:19
- 6 Numbers 21:5; 2 Samuel 13:4
- 7 Exodus 16:31; Exodus 16:14–15; Genesis 2:12; 1 Corinthians 1:23–24; Revelation 2:17
- 8 Exodus 16:31; Exodus 16:16–18; John 6:27; Exodus 16:23; John 6:33–58
- 9 Exodus 16:13–14; Psalm 78:23–25; Psalm 105:40; Deuteronomy 32:2
- 10 Psalm 78:21; Numbers 16:27; Numbers 20:10–13; Psalm 106:32–33; Psalm 139:21
- 11 Deuteronomy 1:12; Exodus 5:22; Job 10:2; 2 Corinthians 11:28; Jeremiah 15:10
- 12 Isaiah 49:23; Isaiah 40:11; Exodus 13:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:7; Genesis 50:24
- 13 Matthew 15:33; Mark 8:4; John 6:5–9; Mark 9:23
- 14 Exodus 18:18; Deuteronomy 1:9–12; Zechariah 6:13; 2 Corinthians 2:16; Isaiah 9:6
- 15 Jonah 4:3; 1 Kings 19:4; Philippians 1:20–24; Jonah 4:8–9; Jeremiah 20:18
- 16 Exodus 24:1; Exodus 24:9; Deuteronomy 16:18; Genesis 46:27; Luke 10:17
- 17 1 Samuel 10:6; Numbers 11:25; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11; 2 Kings 2:9; 2 Kings 2:15
- 18 Exodus 19:10; Acts 7:39; Exodus 16:3–7; Numbers 11:4–6; Numbers 11:1
- 20 Psalm 106:15; Numbers 21:5; Psalm 78:27–30; 1 Samuel 10:19; Acts 13:41
- 21 Exodus 12:37; Numbers 1:46; Genesis 12:2; Exodus 38:26; Numbers 2:32
- 22 2 Kings 7:2; Matthew 15:33; Luke 1:18; Luke 1:34; John 6:6–7
- 23 Isaiah 59:1; Isaiah 50:2; Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37; Numbers 23:19
- 24 Numbers 11:16; Numbers 11:26
- 25 Numbers 11:17; Joel 2:28–29; 1 Samuel 10:10; Numbers 12:5; 1 Corinthians 14:1–3
- 26 Jeremiah 36:5; 1 Samuel 20:26; 1 Samuel 10:22; Exodus 3:11; Exodus 4:13–14
- 28 Luke 9:49–50; Mark 9:38–40; John 3:26; Joshua 1:1; Exodus 33:11
- 29 1 Corinthians 14:5; Matthew 9:37–38; James 4:5; Luke 10:2; James 5:9
- 31 Exodus 16:13; Psalm 78:26–29; Psalm 105:40; Exodus 15:10; Psalm 135:7
- 32 Ezekiel 45:11; Exodus 16:36
- 33 Psalm 78:30–31; Psalm 106:14–15; Numbers 25:9; Numbers 16:49; Deuteronomy 28:27
- 34 Deuteronomy 9:22; 1 Corinthians 10:6; Numbers 33:16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… the outward act, the broth to the allurement of lust within, as it is written, And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept again and again and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?' When the angel, then, stretched out his staff and touched the rock, and fire rose …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
The seventy Elders were chosen; And the Lord came down in a cloud, and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, and put it upon the seventy Elders; not that the Spirit was divided, but that His grace was distributed in proportion to the vessels, and the capacity of the recipients.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
They were called, and they came not; my lord Moses, forbid them." "I cannot forbid them," he says, "for this grace is from Heaven; nay, so far am I from forbidding them, that I myself am thankful for it.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
Wait for the proper season; and oh that all the Lord's people may be prophets, whenever the Lord shall give His Spirit upon them!" saying this also prophetically, whenever the Lord shall give; "For as yet then He has not given it; so thou hast it not yet."--Had not then Abraham this, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)