16 Then all the Israelites left Elim and they went into the desert called Sin. This is between Elim and Sinai. They arrived in the desert on the 15th day of the second month after they had left Egypt. 2 When they were in the desert, all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, ‘It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in Egypt! There, we sat round pots with plenty of meat. We ate all the food that we wanted. But now you have brought us into this desert. We are so hungry that we will soon die!’
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will cause bread to fall down from the sky for you like rain. Each day, the people must go out and pick up enough bread for that day. In this way I will test them. I will discover whether they will obey my rules. 5 On the sixth day, they must pick up and prepare twice as much bread.’
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, ‘In the evening, you will know who brought you out of Egypt. It was the Lord ! 7 Then, in the morning, you will see how great the Lord is. The Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. We, Moses and Aaron, are the Lord 's servants. So you are complaining against him, not against us!’
8 Moses said to them, ‘The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening. And in the morning, he will give you all the bread that you want. He will do this because he has heard you when you complained against him. We are only his servants. You have said bad things against the Lord , not against us.’
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘Say to all the Israelites, “The Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. Now come together, and stand in front of him.” ’ 10 While Aaron spoke, the Israelites looked towards the desert. They saw the bright glory of the Lord which appeared in the cloud.
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 ‘I have heard the bad things that the Israelites have said against me. Tell them this: “In the evening, you will eat meat. And in the morning you will eat all the bread that you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” ’
13 That evening, quails appeared. They covered all the ground round the tents. [ a ]
In the morning, there was dew on the ground round the tents. 14 When the dew had gone, thin white pieces remained on the dry ground, there in the desert. It seemed like frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw these pieces, they said, ‘What is it?’ They did not understand what it was. But Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread that the Lord has given to you. It is for you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: “Each family must pick up as much as they need to eat. Pick up two litres for each person who lives in your tent.” ’
17 So the Israelites did this. Some of them picked up a lot of the food. Some of them picked up only a little food. 18 But when they measured the right amount, everyone had enough to eat. The person who had picked up a lot did not have too much. And the person who had picked up only a little food still had enough to eat. Each person had picked up what he needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, ‘Do not keep any of it until the morning.’ 20 But some of the people did not listen to Moses. They kept part of the food until the morning. But worms appeared in it, and it began to have a bad smell. Then Moses was angry with those people.
21 Each morning, everyone picked up as much food as they needed. But when the sun became hot, the food would melt away. 22 On the sixth day, the Israelites picked up twice as much food. They picked up four litres for each person. Then the leaders of the people told Moses what they had done. 23 Moses said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Tomorrow is a special day of rest. It is a Sabbath day, to worship the Lord . Today, you must bake any food that you want to bake. Boil the meat that you want to boil. Keep until the morning whatever food you do not eat today.” ’
24 So they kept some food until the morning, as Moses had said. This time, the food did not have a bad smell and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, ‘Eat the food today, because this day is a Sabbath day, to worship the Lord . You will not find any food on the ground today. 26 On six days of each week, you must pick food up from the ground. But on the seventh day of the week, there will not be any food on the ground. That is because the seventh day is the Sabbath day of rest.’
27 But on the seventh day, some of the people went out to pick up food. But they did not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘The people continue to refuse to obey my commands. They refuse to do what I tell them! 29 Remember this: The Lord has given the Sabbath day to you. That is why, on the sixth day, he gives you enough food for two days. Then everyone must stay at home on the seventh day. Nobody must leave his home that day.’ 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The Israelites called the special food ‘manna’. It was white, like seeds called coriander. When they tasted the manna, it was like thin pieces of bread with honey in it.
32 Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: “Keep one bowl (an omer) of manna for people to look at in future times. They will see the bread that I fed to you in the desert, after I had brought you out of Egypt.” ’
33 So Moses said to Aaron, ‘Put an omer of manna into a jar. Then put the jar in the place where we worship the Lord . We must keep it safe, so that our descendants can see it in the future.’
34 Aaron did what the Lord had told Moses. He put the jar in the Covenant Box, to keep it safe. [ b ]
35 The Israelites ate the manna for 40 years, until they had finished their journey in the desert. After those 40 years, they arrived at the edge of Canaan.
36 (The people used omers to measure the food. Ten omers is equal to one ephah.) [ c ]
16 Then all the Israelites left Elim. They reached the western Sinai desert, [ a ] between Elim and Mount Sinai, on the 15th day of the second month [ b ] after leaving Egypt. 2 Then the whole community of Israelites began complaining again. They complained to Moses and Aaron in the desert. 3 They said, “It would have been better if the Lord had just killed us in the land of Egypt. At least there we had plenty to eat. We had all the food we needed. But now you have brought us out here into this desert to make us all die from hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will cause food to fall from the sky. This food will be for you to eat. Every day the people should go out and gather the food they need that day. I will do this to see if they will do what I tell them. 5 Every day the people will gather only enough food for one day. But on Friday, when the people prepare their food, they will see that they have enough food for two days.” [ c ]
6 So Moses and Aaron said to the Israelites, “Tonight you will see the power of the Lord . You will know that he is the one who brought you out of Egypt. 7 You have been complaining about the Lord , and he heard you. So tomorrow morning you will see the Glory of the Lord . You have been complaining and complaining about us. Maybe now we can have a little rest.” [ d ]
8 Then Moses said, “In the evening the Lord will give you meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. The Lord will do this because he has heard your complaining, which was against him, not us. What can we do? We do only what he tells us to do, so your complaints are really against the Lord .”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community of Israelites to come together before the Lord , because he has heard their complaints.”
10 So Aaron spoke to all the Israelites. While he was talking, the people turned and looked into the desert. And they saw the Glory of the Lord appear in a cloud.
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. So tell them, ‘Tonight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know you can trust the Lord , your God.’”
13 That evening, flocks of quail came and filled the camp, and in the morning dew lay on the ground all around it. 14 After the dew was gone, something like thin flakes of frost was on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, “What is that?” because they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “This is the food the Lord is giving you to eat. 16 The Lord says, ‘Each of you should gather what you need, a basket [ e ] of manna for everyone in your family.’”
17 So that is what the Israelites did. Some people gathered a large amount, some people gathered a little. 18 But when they measured what they had gathered, there was no shortage and there was none left over. Everyone gathered just what they needed.
19 Moses told them, “Don’t save that food to eat the next day.” 20 But some of the people did not obey Moses. They saved their food for the next day. But worms got into the food and it began to stink. Moses was angry with the people who did this.
21 Every morning the people gathered as much food as they could eat, but by noon [ f ] the food melted and was gone.
22 On Friday the people gathered twice as much food—two baskets [ g ] for every person. So all the leaders of the people came and told this to Moses.
23 Moses told them, “This is what the Lord said would happen. It happened because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the Lord . You can cook all the food you need to cook for today, but save the rest of this food for tomorrow morning.”
24 So the people saved the rest of the food for the next day, as Moses had commanded, and none of the food spoiled or had worms in it.
25 On Saturday, Moses told the people, “Today is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the Lord . So none of you should be out in the fields. Eat the food you gathered yesterday. 26 You should gather the food for six days. But the seventh day of the week is a day of rest—so there will not be any of the special food on the ground.”
27 On Saturday, some of the people went out to gather some of the food, but they could not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you people refuse to obey my commands and teachings? 29 Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for you. So on Friday he will give you enough food for two days. Then, on the Sabbath, each of you should sit down and relax. Stay where you are.” 30 So the people rested on the Sabbath.
31 The people called the special food “manna. [ h ] ” It was like small white coriander seeds and tasted like thin cakes made with honey. 32 Moses told the people what the Lord said: “Save a basket of this food for your descendants. Then they can see the food that I gave to you in the desert when I took you out of Egypt.”
33 So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with a full basket of manna. Save this manna to put before the Lord . Save it for our descendants.” 34 (Aaron did what the Lord had commanded Moses. Aaron put the jar of manna in front of the Box of the Agreement.) 35 The people ate the manna for 40 years, until they came to the land of rest, that is, until they came to the edge of the land of Canaan. 36 (The measure they used for the manna was an omer. An omer was about 8 cups. [ i ] )
16 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
4 Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord ; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord : and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord .
9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord : for he hath heard your murmurings.
10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.
13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
16 This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.
20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23 And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord : bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the Lord : to day ye shall not find it in the field.
26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
28 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29 See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man 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 the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord , to be kept for your generations.
34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
16 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of ( A ) Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on ( B ) the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. 2 But the whole congregation of the sons of Israel ( C ) grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The sons of Israel said to them, “ ( D ) If only we had died by the Lord ’ s hand in the land of Egypt, ( E ) when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ( F ) I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may ( G ) test them, whether or not they will walk in My [ a ] instruction. 5 ( H ) On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening [ b ] ( I ) you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; 7 and in the morning [ c ] you will see ( J ) the glory of the Lord , for ( K ) He hears your grumblings against the Lord ; and ( L ) what are we, that you grumble against us?”
8 And Moses said, “ This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are ( M ) not against us but against the Lord .”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘ ( N ) Come forward before the Lord , for He has heard your grumblings.’” 10 And it came about, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, that they [ d ] looked toward the wilderness, and behold, ( O ) the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “ ( P ) I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘ [ e ] At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and ( Q ) you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”
13 So it came about at evening that ( R ) the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ( S ) there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 ( T ) When the layer of dew [ f ] evaporated, behold, on the [ g ] surface of the wilderness ( U ) there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. 15 When the sons of Israel saw it , they said to one another, “ [ h ] What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “ ( V ) It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is [ i ] what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone gather [ j ] as much as he will eat; you shall take [ k ] ( W ) an omer apiece according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’” 17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. 18 When they measured it by the [ l ] omer, ( X ) the one who had gathered much did not have too much, and the one who had gathered little did not have too little; everyone gathered [ m ] as much as he would eat. 19 Moses said to them, “ ( Y ) No one is to leave any of it until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank; and Moses was angry with them. 21 They gathered it morning by morning, everyone [ n ] as much as he would eat; but when the sun became hot, it would melt.
22 ( Z ) Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, [ o ] two omers for each one. When all the ( AA ) leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 then he said to them, “This is what the Lord [ p ] meant: ( AB ) Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the Lord . Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and ( AC ) all that is left over [ q ] put aside to be kept until morning.” 24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and ( AD ) it did not stink nor was there a maggot in it. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat it 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 [ r ] none.”
27 Yet it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “ ( AF ) How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My [ s ] instructions? 29 See, [ t ] the Lord has given you the Sabbath; for that reason He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain, everyone, in his place; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 And the house of ( AG ) Israel named the bread [ u ] manna, and it was like ( AH ) coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is [ v ] what the Lord has commanded: ‘A [ w ] full omer of it is to be kept safe throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “ ( AI ) Take a jar and put a [ x ] full omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept safe throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before ( AJ ) the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And ( AK ) the sons of Israel ate the manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (Now ( AL ) an [ y ] omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
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 ) 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled ( C ) against Moses and Aaron. 3 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 )
4 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. 5 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.”
6 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 ) 7 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 ) 8 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 )
9 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 )
