Numbers 11:3-17

³So that place was named Taberah, because the fire from the Lord burned them.

⁴A group of troublemakers among them had such intense food cravings they affected the Israelites who started crying again, asking “Who's going to get us some meat to eat?

⁵We think back to all the fish we ate in Egypt that didn't cost us anything, as well as the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.

⁶We're fading away here! The only thing we ever see is this manna!”

⁷Manna looked like coriander seeds, light in color like gum resin.

⁸The people would go out and collect it, grind it up in a mill or crush it in a mortar. Then they would boil it in a pot and make it into flatbread. It tasted like pastries made with the best olive oil.

⁹When the dew came down on the camp at night the manna would come down with it.

¹⁰Moses heard all the families crying at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became very angry, and Moses was also upset.

¹¹He asked the Lord, “Why have you made things so tough for me, your servant? Why are you so unhappy with me that you have placed on me the heavy responsibility for all these people?

¹²Are they my children? Did I give birth to them, so you could tell me, ‘Hold them close to your chest like a nurse carrying a baby’ and take them to the land you promised to give to their forefathers?

¹³Where am I supposed to get meat for all of them? They keep on complaining to me, ‘Get us some meat to eat!’

¹⁴I can't go on carrying all these people by myself—it's just too much.

¹⁵If this is the way you're going to treat me, then please just kill me now so I don't have to face how depressed I've become. Please grant me this one request.”

¹⁶The Lord told Moses, “Bring before me seventy Israelite elders who you know are repected as leaders by the people Take them to the Tent of Meeting. They will stand there with you.

¹⁷I will come down and talk with you there. I will take some of the Spirit you have and give it to them. They will take some of the responsibility for the people so you won't have to bear it alone.