Complaints About the Food

⁴ The foreign rabble who were among the Israelites were overcome by their craving. The Israelites also wept once again and said, “Who is going to give us meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶ But now our lives are wasting away.^[a] We have nothing at all to look at except this manna.”

¹⁰ Moses heard people from all the clans weeping, each one at the entrance to his own tent. At the same time, the Lord’s anger burned fiercely, and Moses was displeased.^{[a] 11} Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your eyes? Why do you put the burden of all these people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all these people by myself? Am I the one who gave birth to them so that you tell me to carry them in my arms to the land which you swore to their fathers, just as a woman who is nursing carries a baby? ¹³ Where is there meat for me to give to all these people? Listen, they are weeping to me and saying, ‘Give us meat so that we can eat.’ ¹⁴ I am not able to carry all these people by myself, because that is too much for me. ¹⁵ If you are going to treat me this way, please kill me right now. If I have found favor in your eyes, do not let me see my own ruin.”

Elders Appointed to Assist Moses

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather seventy men from the elders of Israel for me, men whom you know to be elders and officers for the people. Take them to the Tent of Meeting and make them stand there with you.

²⁴ Moses went out and told the people the Lord’s words. He gathered seventy men from the elders of the people and had them stand all around the tent. ²⁵ The Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took from the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do it again.^[a]

²⁶ Two men, however, remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad. They were listed among the elders, but they had not gone out to the tent. The Spirit rested on them, and they prophesied back in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and reported this to Moses. He said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”

²⁸ Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide from his youth, answered, “My lord Moses, stop them!”

²⁹ Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all of the Lord’s people were prophets so that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”