Bread from Heaven

16 And they (A)journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and (B)Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel (C)complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, (D)“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, (E)when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain (F)bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather [a]a certain quota every day, that I may (G)test them, whether they will (H)walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and (I)it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, (J)“At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see (K)the glory of the Lord; for He (L)hears your complaints against the Lord. But (M)what are we, that you complain against us?” Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but (N)against the Lord.”

Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, (O)‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” 10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord (P)appeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 (Q)“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, (R)‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and (S)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 So it was that (T)quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning (U)the dew lay all around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was (V)a small round (W)substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, (X)“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it (Y)according to each one’s need, one (Z)omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they measured it by omers, (AA)he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. 19 And Moses said, “Let no one (AB)leave any of it till morning.” 20 Notwithstanding they did not [b]heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is (AC)a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not (AD)stink, nor were there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 (AE)Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long (AF)do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29 See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 And the house of Israel called its name [c]Manna. And (AG)it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, (AH)“Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up (AI)before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel (AJ)ate manna (AK)forty years, (AL)until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 16:4 Lit. the portion of a day in its day
  2. Exodus 16:20 listen to
  3. Exodus 16:31 Lit. What? Ex. 16:15

Manna and Quail

16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin,(A) which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.(B) In the desert the whole community grumbled(C) against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!(D) There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food(E) we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”(F)

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven(G) for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test(H) them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice(I) as much as they gather on the other days.”

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt,(J) and in the morning you will see the glory(K) of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling(L) against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”(M) Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling(N) against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”(O)

Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”

10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory(P) of the Lord appearing in the cloud.(Q)

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling(R) of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”(S)

13 That evening quail(T) came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew(U) around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost(V) on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know(W) what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread(X) the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer[a](Y) for each person you have in your tent.’”

17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.(Z) Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”(AA)

20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.(AB) So Moses was angry(AC) with them.

21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice(AD) as much—two omers[b] for each person—and the leaders of the community(AE) came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath(AF) to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath,(AG) there will not be any.”

27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you[c] refuse to keep my commands(AH) and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The people of Israel called the bread manna.[d](AI) It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna(AJ) in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law,(AK) so that it might be preserved. 35 The Israelites ate manna(AL) forty years,(AM) until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.(AN)

36 (An omer(AO) is one-tenth of an ephah.)(AP)

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 16:16 That is, possibly about 3 pounds or about 1.4 kilograms; also in verses 18, 32, 33 and 36
  2. Exodus 16:22 That is, possibly about 6 pounds or about 2.8 kilograms
  3. Exodus 16:28 The Hebrew is plural.
  4. Exodus 16:31 Manna sounds like the Hebrew for What is it? (see verse 15).