Numbers 10-12

New American Standard Bible

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord spoke further to Moses, saying, ²“Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for ^(A)summoning the congregation and breaking camp. ³Now ^(B)when both are blown, all the congregation shall meet you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁴But if only one is blown, then the ^(C)leaders, the heads of the ^[a]divisions of Israel, shall meet you. ⁵And when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched ^(D)on the east side shall set out. ⁶Then when you sound an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on ^(E)the south side shall set out; an alarm is to be sounded for them to break camp. ⁷When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow the trumpets without ^(F)sounding an alarm. ⁸^(G)The sons of Aaron, moreover, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and this shall be a permanent statute for you throughout your generations. ⁹And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who ^(H)attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be ^(I)thought of by the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed ^[b]feasts, and on the first days of your months, ^(J)you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

The Tribes Leave Sinai

¹¹Now in ^(K)the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from above the ^[c]tabernacle of the testimony; ¹²and the sons of Israel set out on ^(L)their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled in the ^(M)wilderness of Paran. ¹³^(N)So they moved on for the first time in accordance with the ^[d]command of the Lord through Moses. ¹⁴The ^[e]flag of the camp of the sons of Judah, by their armies, ^(O)set out first, with Nahshon the son of Amminadab, over its army, ¹⁵and Nethanel the son of Zuar, over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar; ¹⁶and Eliab the son of Helon over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.

¹⁷^(P)Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out. ¹⁸Next ^(Q)the flag of the camp of Reuben, by their armies, set out with Elizur the son of Shedeur, over its army, ¹⁹and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon, ²⁰and Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.

²¹^(R)Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects; and ^(S)the tabernacle was set up before their arrival. ²²^(T)Next the flag of the camp of the sons of Ephraim, by their armies, set out, with Elishama the son of Ammihud over its army, ²³and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh; ²⁴and Abidan the son of Gideoni over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.

²⁵^(U)Then the flag of the camp of the sons of Dan, by their armies, which formed the ^(V)rear guard for all the camps, set out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai over its army, ²⁶and Pagiel the son of Ochran over the tribal army of the sons of Asher; ²⁷and Ahira the son of Enan over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali. ²⁸^[f]This was the order of marching for the sons of Israel by their armies as they set out.

²⁹Then Moses said to ^(W)Hobab the son of ^(X)Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘^(Y)I will give it to you.’ ^(Z)Come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord ^(AA)has ^[g]promised good concerning Israel.” ³⁰But he said to him, “^(AB)I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.” ³¹Then he said, “Please do not leave us, since you know ^[h]where we should camp in the wilderness, and you ^(AC)will be as eyes for us. ³²So it will be, if you go with us, that ^[i]^(AD)whatever good the Lord ^[j]does for us, ^(AE)we will ^[k]do for you.”

³³^(AF)So they moved on from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey, with ^(AG)the ark of the covenant of the Lord going on in front of them for the ^[l]three days, to seek out ^(AH)a resting place for them. ³⁴^(AI)And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said,

“^(AJ)Rise up, Lord!
And may Your enemies be scattered,
And those ^(AK)who hate You flee from Your presence.”

³⁶And when it came to rest, he said,

“^(AL)Return, Lord,
To the myriad ^(AM)thousands of Israel.”

The People Complain

11 Now the people became like ^(AN)those who complain of adversity ^(AO)in the ears of the Lord; and the Lord heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp. ²^(AP)The people then cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire ^[m]died out. ³So that place was named ^[n]^(AQ)Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴Now the ^(AR)rabble who were among them ^[o]had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “^(AS)Who will give us ^[p]meat to eat? ⁵^(AT)We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; ⁶but now ^(AU)our ^[q]appetite is gone. There is nothing at all ^[r]to look at except this manna!”

⁷^(AV)Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of ^[s]^(AW)bdellium. ⁸The people would roam about and gather it and grind it ^[t]between two millstones, or pound it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make loaves with it; and its taste was like the taste of ^[u]cake baked with oil. ⁹^(AX)When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna would come down ^[v]with it.

The Complaint of Moses

¹⁰Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each one at the entrance of his tent; and the anger of the Lord became very hot, and ^[w]Moses was displeased. ¹¹^(AY)So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You ^[x]been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have put the burden of all this people on me? ¹²Was it I who conceived all this people? Or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them ^[y]in your arms, as a ^[z]^(AZ)nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which ^(BA)You swore to their fathers’? ¹³Where am I to get meat to give to ^(BB)all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat so that we may eat!’ ¹⁴^(BC)I am not able to carry all this people by myself, because it is too ^[aa]burdensome for me. ¹⁵^(BD)So if You are going to deal with me this way, please kill me now, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my misery.”

Seventy Elders to Assist Moses

¹⁶The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me ^(BE)seventy men from the elders of Israel, ^(BF)whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their stand there with you. ¹⁷^(BG)Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of ^(BH)the Spirit who is upon you, and put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it by yourself. ¹⁸And you shall say to the people, ‘^(BI)Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept ^(BJ)in the ears of the Lord, saying, “^[ab]Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat. ¹⁹You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, ²⁰^[ac]but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nose and ^[ad]makes you nauseated; because ^(BK)you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” ²¹But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am included, are six hundred thousand on foot! Yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ ²²Are flocks and herds to be slaughtered for them, so that it will be sufficient for them? Or are all the fish of the sea to be ^[ae]caught for them, so that it will be sufficient for them?” ²³Then the Lord said to Moses, “Is ^(BL)the Lord’s ^[af]power too little? Now you shall see whether ^(BM)My word will ^[ag]come true for you or not.”

²⁴So Moses went out and ^(BN)told the people the words of the Lord. He also gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and positioned them around the tent. ²⁵^(BO)Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took away some of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. Yet they did not do it again.

²⁶But two men had remained in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the ^[ah]other, Medad. And ^(BP)the Spirit rested upon them (and they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷So a young man ran and informed Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸Then ^(BQ)Joshua the son of Nun, the personal servant of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “^(BR)My lord Moses, restrain them!” ²⁹But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^(BS)If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” ³⁰Then Moses ^[ai]returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.

The Quail and the Plague

³¹^(BT)Now a wind burst forth from the Lord and it brought quail from the sea, and dropped them beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side all around the camp, and about ^[aj]two cubits deep on the surface of the ground. ³²And the people ^[ak]spent all that day, all night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ^[al]ten ^(BU)homers) and spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ³³^(BV)While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague. ³⁴So that place was named ^[am]^(BW)Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy. ³⁵From Kibroth-hattaavah ^(BX)the people set out for Hazeroth, and they ^[an]remained at Hazeroth.

The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron

12 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a ^(BY)Cushite woman); ²^(BZ)and they said, “Is it a fact that the Lord has spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard this. ³(Now the man Moses was ^(CA)very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.) ⁴And the Lord suddenly said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “You three go out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out. ⁵^(CB)Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, ⁶He said,

“Now hear My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, will make Myself known to him in a ^(CC)vision.
I will speak with him in a ^(CD)dream.
⁷It is not this way for ^(CE)My servant Moses;
^(CF)He is faithful in all My household;
⁸^(CG)With him I speak mouth to mouth,
That is, openly, and not ^[ao]using ^[ap]mysterious language,
And he beholds ^(CH)the form of the Lord.
So why were you not afraid
To speak against My servant, against Moses?”

⁹And the anger of the Lord burned against them and ^(CI)He departed. ¹⁰But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, ^(CJ)Miriam was leprous, as ^(CK)white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. ¹¹Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, ^(CL)do not ^[aq]hold us responsible for this sin by which we have turned out to be foolish, and by which we have sinned. ¹²Oh, do not let her be like a dead person, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb!” ¹³So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “God, ^(CM)heal her, please!” ¹⁴But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only ^(CN)spit in her face, would she not be put to shame for seven days? Have her shut ^(CO)outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” ¹⁵So ^(CP)Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.