20At such times as the cloud rested over the Tabernacle for but a few days, they remained encamped at a command of the LORD, and broke camp at a command of the LORD. 21And at such times as the cloud stayed from evening until morning, they broke camp as soon as the cloud lifted in the morning. Day or night, whenever the cloud lifted, they would break camp. 22Whether it was two days or a month or a year—however long the cloud lingered over the Tabernacle—the Israelites remained encamped and did not set out; only when it lifted did they break camp. 23On a sign from the LORD they made camp and on a sign from the LORD they broke camp; they observed the LORD’s mandate at the LORD’s bidding through Moses.
10 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2Have two silver trumpets made; make them of hammered work. They shall serve you to summon the community and to set the divisions in motion. 3When both are blown in long blasts,a the whole community shall assemble before you at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; 4and if only one is blown, the chieftains, heads of Israel’s contingents, shall assemble before you. 5But when you sound short blasts,a the divisions encamped on the east shall move forward; 6and when you sound short blasts a second time, those encamped on the south shall move forward. Thus short blasts shall be blown for setting them in motion, 7while to convoke the congregation you shall blow long blasts, not short ones. 8The trumpets shall be blown by Aaron’s sons, the priests; they shall be for you an institution for all time throughout the ages.
9 a-When you are at war-a in your land against an aggressor who attacks you, you shall sound short blasts on the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God and be delivered from your enemies. 10And on your joyous occasions—your fixed festivals and new moon days—you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I, the LORD, am your God.
11In the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle of the Pact 12and the Israelites set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. The cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran.
13When the march was to begin, at the LORD’s command through Moses, 14the first standard to set out, troop by troop, was the division of Judah. In command of its troops was Nahshon son of Amminadab; 15in command of the tribal troop of Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar; 16and in command of the tribal troop of Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon.
17Then the Tabernacle would be taken apart; and the Gershonites and the Merarites, who carried the Tabernacle, would set out.
18The next standard to set out, troop by troop, was the division of Reuben. In command of its troop was Elizur son of Shedeur; 19in command of the tribal troop of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; 20and in command of the tribal troop of Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel.
21Then the Kohathites, who carried the sacred objects, would set out; and by the time they arrived, the Tabernacle would be set up again.
22The next standard to set out, troop by troop, was the division of Ephraim. In command of its troop was Elishama son of Ammihud; 23in command of the tribal troop of Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur; 24and in command of the tribal troop of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni.
25Then, as the rear guard of all the divisions, the standard of the division of Dan would set out, troop by troop. In command of its troop was Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai; 26in command of the tribal troop of Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran; 27and in command of the tribal troop of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.
28Such was the order of march of the Israelites, as they marched troop by troop.
29Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD has said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will be generous with you; for the LORD has promised to be generous to Israel.”
30“I will not go,” he replied to him, “but will return to my native land.” 31He said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness and can be our guide.b So if you come with us, we will extend to you the same bounty that the LORD grants us.”
33They marched from the mountain of the LORD a distance of three days. The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD traveled in front of them on that three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them; 34and the LORD’s cloud kept above them by day, as they moved on from camp.
35When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say:
Advance, O LORD!
May Your enemies be scattered,
And may Your foes flee before You!
36And when it halted, he would say:
c-Return, O LORD,
You who are Israel’s myriads of thousands!-c
11 The people took to complaining bitterly before the LORD. The LORD heard and was incensed: a fire of the LORD broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp. 2The people cried out to Moses. Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. 3That place was named Taberah,a because a fire of the LORD had broken out against them.
4The riffraff in their midst felt a gluttonous craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!”
7Now the manna was like coriander seed, and in color it was like bdellium. 8The people would go about and gather it, grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, boil it in a pot, and make it into cakes. It tasted like rich cream.b 9When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall upon it.
10Moses heard the people weeping, every clan apart, each person at the entrance of his tent. The LORD was very angry, and Moses was distressed. 11And Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me? 12Did I conceive all this people, did I bear them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers? 13Where am I to get meat to give to all this people, when they whine before me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me. 15If You would deal thus with me, kill me rather, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness!”
16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy of Israel’s elders of whom you have experience as elders and officers of the people, and bring them to the Tent of Meeting and let them take their place there with you. 17I will come down and speak with you there, and I will draw upon the spirit that is on you and put it upon them; they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone. 18And say to the people: c-Purify yourselves-c for tomorrow and you shall eat meat, for you have kept whining before the LORD and saying, ‘If only we had meat to eat! Indeed, we were better off in Egypt!’ The LORD will give you meat and you shall eat. 19You shall eat not one day, not two, not even five days or ten or twenty, 20but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. For you have rejected the LORD who is among you, by whining before Him and saying, ‘Oh, why did we ever leave Egypt!’ ”
21But Moses said, “The people d-who are with me-d number six hundred thousand men; yet You say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month.’ 22Could enough flocks and herds be slaughtered to suffice them? Or could all the fish of the sea be gathered for them to suffice them?” 23And the LORD answered Moses, e-“Is there a limit to the LORD’s power?-e You shall soon see whether what I have said happens to you or not!”
24Moses went out and reported the words of the LORD to the people. He gathered seventy of the people’s elders and stationed them around the Tent. 25Then the LORD came down in a cloud and spoke to him; He drew upon the spirit that was on him and put it upon the seventy elders. And
