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The People Demand Food

16 The whole Israelite community left Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which was between Elim and Sinai; they arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt. Then the whole Israelite community grumbled to Moses and Aaron in the desert. They said to them, “It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in the land of Egypt. There we had meat to eat and all the food we wanted. But you have brought us into this desert to starve us to death.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will cause food to fall like rain from the sky for all of you. Every day the people must go out and gather what they need for that day. I want to see if the people will do what I teach them. On the sixth day of each week, they are to gather twice as much as they gather on other days. Then they are to prepare it.”

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: “This evening you will know that the Lord is the one who brought you out of Egypt. Tomorrow morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard you grumble against him. We are nothing, so you are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.” And Moses said, “Each evening the Lord will give you meat to eat, and every morning he will give you all the bread you want, because he has heard you grumble against him. You are not grumbling against Aaron and me, because we are nothing; you are grumbling against the Lord.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Speak to the whole community of the Israelites, and say to them, ‘Meet together in the presence of the Lord, because he has heard your grumblings.’”

10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole community of the Israelites, they looked toward the desert. There the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel. So tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and every morning you will eat all the bread you want. Then you will know I am the Lord your God.’”

13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost were on the desert ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was.

So Moses told them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 The Lord has commanded, ‘Each one of you must gather what he needs, about two quarts for every person in your family.’”

17 So the people of Israel did this; some people gathered much, and some gathered little. 18 Then they measured it. The person who gathered more did not have too much, nor did the person who gathered less have too little. Each person gathered just as much as he needed.

19 Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it to eat the next day.” 20 But some of the people did not listen to Moses and kept part of it to eat the next morning. It became full of worms and began to stink, so Moses was angry with those people.

21 Every morning each person gathered as much food as he needed, but when the sun became hot, it melted away.

22 On the sixth day the people gathered twice as much food—four quarts for every person. When all the leaders of the community came and told this to Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded, because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Lord’s holy day of rest. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil today. Save the rest of the food until tomorrow morning.”

24 So the people saved it until the next morning, as Moses had commanded, and none of it began to stink or have worms in it. 25 Moses told the people, “Eat the food you gathered yesterday. Today is a Sabbath, the Lord’s day of rest; you will not find any out in the field today. 26 You should gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day. On that day there will not be any food on the ground.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they couldn’t 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 the sixth day he will give you enough food for two days, but on the seventh day each of you must stay where you are. Do not go anywhere.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like small white seeds and tasted like wafers made with honey.

32 Then Moses said, “The Lord said, ‘Save two quarts of this food for your descendants. Then they can see the food I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

33 Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Then place it before the Lord, and save it for your descendants.” 34 So Aaron did what the Lord had commanded Moses. He put the jar of manna in front of the Agreement to keep it safe. 35 The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to the land where they settled—the edge of the land of Canaan. 36 The measure they used for the manna was two quarts, or one-tenth of an ephah.[a]

Footnotes

  1. 16:36 ephah An ephah was a measure that equaled twenty quarts.

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).