27and the wind brought birds which were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.
28God caused those birds to fall dead in the middle of ◄their camp►/the area where the people had put up their tents. There were dead birds all around their tents.
29So the people cooked the birds and ate the meat and their stomachs were full, because God had given them what they wanted.
30But before they had eaten all that they wanted, and while they were still eating it,
31God was still very angry with them, and he caused their strongest men to die; he got rid of many of the finest young Israeli men.
32In spite of all that, the people continued to sin; in spite of all the miracles that God had performed, they still did not trust that he would take care of them.
33So, he caused their lives to end as quickly as a puff of wind ends; they died when disasters suddenly struck them.
34When God caused some of them to die, the others turned to God; they repented and earnestly asked God to save them.
35They remembered that God is like a huge rock ledge under which they would be safe MET, and that he, who was greater than any other god, is the one who protected/rescued them.
36But they tried to deceive God by what they said MTY; their words MTY were all lies.
37They were not loyal to him; they disregarded/ignored the agreement that he had made with them.
38But God was merciful to his people. He forgave them for having sinned and did not get rid of them. Many times he refrained from becoming angry with them and restrained from furiously/severely punishing them MTY.
39He remembered/considered that they were only humans who die; they disappear quickly SIM, like a wind that blows by and then is gone.
40Many times our ancestors rebelled against God in the desert and caused him to become very sad.
41Many times they did evil things, to find out if they could do those things without God punishing them. They frequently caused the holy God of Israel to become disgusted/sad.
42They forgot about his great power, and they ◄forgot/did not think► about the time when he rescued them from their enemies.
43They forgot about when he performed many miracles in the area near Zoan city in Egypt.
44He caused the Nile River (OR, their sources of water) to become red like blood, with the result that the people of Egypt had no water to drink.
45He sent among the people of Egypt swarms of flies that bit them, and he sent frogs that ate up everything.
46He sent locusts to eat their crops and the other things that grew in their fields.
47He sent hail that destroyed the grapevines, and sent frost that ruined the figs.
48He sent hail that killed their cattle and sent lightning that killed their sheep and cows.
49Because God was fiercely angry with the people of Egypt, he caused them to be very distressed. The disasters that struck them were like a group of angels that destroyed everything.
50He did not lessen his being angry with them, and he did not ◄spare their lives/prevent them from dying►; he sent a ◄plague/serious illness► that killed many of them.
51He also caused all the firstborn sons of the people of Egypt to die.
52Then he led his people out of Egypt like a shepherd leads his sheep SIM, and he guided them while they walked through the desert.