The People Complain

1 And the people ^acomplained ^bin the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses ^cprayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called ^dTaberah,¹ because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong ^ecraving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ^f“Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and ^gthere is nothing at all but this ^hmanna to look at.”

7 Now the manna was ⁱlike coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 ^jWhen the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

10 ^kMoses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11 Moses said to the Lord, ^l“Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the ^mburden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the ⁿland that you swore to give their fathers? 13 ^oWhere am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to carry all this people ^palone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 ^qIf you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”

Elders Appointed to Aid Moses

16 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^r“Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the ^selders of the people and ^tofficers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you ^uand put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For ^vit was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have ^wrejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” 21 But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number ^xsix hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 22 ^yShall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 23 And the Lord said to Moses, ^z“Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25 Then the Lord ^acame down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And ^bas soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.

26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, ^cthe assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, ^dstop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^eWould that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Quail and a Plague

31 Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, ^fand it brought ^gquail from the sea and let them fall beside 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 cubits² above the ground. 32 And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers.³ And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 ^hWhile the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great ⁱplague. 34 Therefore the name of that place was called ^jKibroth-hattaavah,⁴ because there they buried the people who had the craving. 35 ^kFrom Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to ^lHazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.

The People Rebel

1 ^rThen all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel ^sgrumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, ^t“Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 ^uWhy is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and ^vour little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, ^w“Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

5 Then Moses and Aaron ^xfell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun ^yand Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ^z“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not ^arebel against the Lord. And ^bdo not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 Then ^call the congregation said to ^dstone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord ^eappeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

11 ^fAnd the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people ^gdespise me? And how long will they ^hnot believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and ⁱI will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Moses Intercedes for the People

13 ^jBut Moses said to the Lord, “Then the ^kEgyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are ^lin the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen ^mface to face, and your ⁿcloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 ‘It is ^obecause the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ^p‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, ^qvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 ^rPlease pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

God Promises Judgment

20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as ^sall the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 ^tnone of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have ^uput me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 ^vBut my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall this wicked congregation ^wgrumble against me? I have ^xheard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, ^ywhat you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 ^zyour dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, ^alisted in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have ^brejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, ^cforty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

36 And ^dthe men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by ^ebringing up a bad report about the land— 37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the Lord. 38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, ^fonly Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

Israel Defeated in Battle

39 ^gWhen Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people ^hmourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” 41 But Moses said, ⁱ“Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? 42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43 For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” 44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to ^jHormah.

Korah’s Rebellion

1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, ^echosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 ^fThey assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are ^gholy, every one of them, and the Lord is ^hamong them. ⁱWhy then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” 4 When Moses heard it, ^jhe fell on his face, 5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning ^kthe Lord will show who is his,¹ and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he ^lchooses he will bring near to him. 6 Do this: ^mtake censers, Korah and all his company; 7 put fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” 8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has ⁿseparated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to ^ominister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you ^pgrumble against him?”

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land ^qflowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14 Moreover, ^ryou have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” 15 And Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not respect their offering. ^sI have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”

16 And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the Lord, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the Lord his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” 18 So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah assembled ^tall the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord ^uappeared to all the congregation.

20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 ^v“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” 22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, ^wthe God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be ^xangry with all the congregation?” 23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, ^y“Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, ^zlest you be swept away with all their sins.” 27 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down ^aalive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have ^bdespised the Lord.”

31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and ^cswallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they ^dperished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35 And ^efire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

36 ² Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Tell ^fEleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. 38 As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the Lord, and they became holy. Thus they shall be a ^gsign to the people of Israel.” 39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the ^haltar, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that ⁱno outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to ^jburn incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his company—^kas the Lord said to him through Moses.

41 But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel ^lgrumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” 42 And when the congregation had assembled ^magainst Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the ⁿcloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 ^o“Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord; the ^pplague has begun.” 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague ^qwas stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.