DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11:
DAILY BIBLE READING
Numbers 10-12New King James Version (NKJV)
Two Silver Trumpets
10 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "Make two silver trumpets for
yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for
calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. 3
When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at
the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 4 But if they blow only one, then
the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you. 5
When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then
begin their journey. 6 When you sound the advance the second time, then the
camps that lie on the south side shall begin their journey; they shall sound
the call for them to begin their journeys. 7 And when the assembly is to be
gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance. 8 The sons of
Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an
ordinance forever throughout your generations.
9 "When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then
you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered
before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. 10 Also
in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning
of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and
over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial
for you before your God: I am the Lord your God."
Departure from Sinai
11 Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the
second year, that the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of the
Testimony. 12 And the children of Israel set out from the Wilderness of
Sinai on their journeys; then the cloud settled down in the Wilderness of
Paran. 13 So they started out for the first time according to the command
of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
14 The standard of the camp of the children of Judah set out first according
to their armies; over their army was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 15 Over
the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of
Zuar. 16 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was
Eliab the son of Helon.
17 Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons
of Merari set out, carrying the tabernacle.
18 And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their armies;
over their army was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19 Over the army of the
tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20
And over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son
of Deuel.
21 Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things. (The tabernacle
would be prepared for their arrival.)
22 And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out according
to their armies; over their army was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23 Over
the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of
Pedahzur. 24 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was
Abidan the son of Gideoni.
25 Then the standard of the camp of the children of Dan (the rear guard of
all the camps) set out according to their armies; over their army was
Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 Over the army of the tribe of the
children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. 27 And over the army of the
tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.
28 Thus was the order of march of the children of Israel, according to their
armies, when they began their journey.
29 Now Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel[a] the Midianite, Moses'
father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, 'I
will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the Lord
has promised good things to Israel."
30 And he said to him, "I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and
to my relatives."
31 So Moses said, "Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to
camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. 32 And it shall be, if you
go with us-indeed it shall be-that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the
same we will do to you."
33 So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three
days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three
days' journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of
the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp.
35 So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said:
"Rise up, O Lord!
Let Your enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate You flee before You."
36 And when it rested, he said:
"Return, O Lord,
To the many thousands of Israel."
The People Complain
11 Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord
heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among
them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people
cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was
quenched. 3 So he called the name of the place Taberah,[b] because the fire
of the Lord had burned among them.
4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so
the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to
eat? 5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers,
the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our whole
being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our
eyes!"
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of
bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones
or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its
taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. 9 And when the dew
fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone
at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused;
Moses also was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, "Why have You
afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that
You have laid the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all
these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in
your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which You
swore to their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all these
people? For they weep all over me, saying, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.'
14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too
heavy for me. 15 If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now-if
I have found favor in Your sight-and do not let me see my wretchedness!"
The Seventy Elders
16 So the Lord said to Moses: "Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of
Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them;
bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit
that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the
burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18
Then you shall say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and
you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying,
"Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt." Therefore
the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall eat, not one
day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 but for
a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to
you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept
before Him, saying, "Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?"'"
21 And Moses said, "The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men
on foot; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat for a
whole month.' 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide
enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for
them, to provide enough for them?"
23 And the Lord said to Moses, "Has the Lord's arm been shortened? Now you
shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not."
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he
gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around
the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him,
and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the
seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they
prophesied, although they never did so again.[c]
26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the
name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were
among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they
prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said,
"Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men,
answered and said, "Moses my lord, forbid them!"
29 Then Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the
Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon
them!" 30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
The Lord Sends Quail
31 Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and
left them fluttering near the camp, about a day's journey on this side and
about a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two
cubits above the surface of the ground. 32 And the people stayed up all
that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who
gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves
all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth,
before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people,
and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So he called
the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah,[d] because there they buried the
people who had yielded to craving.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at
Hazeroth.
Dissension of Aaron and Miriam
12 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman
whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 So they said,
"Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us
also?" And the Lord heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more
than all men who were on the face of the earth.)
4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Come out, you three,
to the tabernacle of meeting!" So the three came out. 5 Then the Lord came
down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and
called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. 6 Then He said,
"Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream.
7
Not so with My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My house.
8
I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?"
9 So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. 10
And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam
became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there
she was, a leper. 11 So Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord! Please do not
lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have
sinned. 12 Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half
consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb!"
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "Please heal her, O God, I pray!"
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face,
would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven
days, and afterward she may be received again." 15 So Miriam was shut out
of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was
brought in again. 16 And afterward the people moved from Hazeroth and
camped in the Wilderness of Paran.
Footnotes:
a.Numbers 10:29 Septuagint reads Raguel (compare Exodus 2:18).
b.Numbers 11:3 Literally Burning
c.Numbers 11:25 Targum and Vulgate read did not cease.
d.Numbers 11:34 Literally Graves of Craving
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James VersionR. Copyright C 1982 by Thomas
Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
