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16 And they journey from Elim, and all the company of the sons of Israel come in unto the wilderness of Sin, which [is] between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt.

And all the company of the sons of Israel murmur against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;

and the sons of Israel say unto them, `Oh that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, in our sitting by the flesh-pot, in our eating bread to satiety -- for ye have brought us out unto this wilderness to put all this assembly to death with hunger.'

And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Lo, I am raining to you bread from the heavens -- and the people have gone out and gathered the matter of a day in its day -- so that I try them whether they walk in My law, or not;

and it hath been on the sixth day, that they have prepared that which they bring in, and it hath been double above that which they gather day [by] day.'

And Moses saith -- Aaron also -- unto all the sons of Israel, `Evening -- and ye have known that Jehovah hath brought you out from the land of Egypt;

and morning -- and ye have seen the honour of Jehovah, in His hearing your murmurings against Jehovah, and what [are] we, that ye murmur against us?'

And Moses saith, `In Jehovah's giving to you in the evening flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to satiety -- in Jehovah's hearing your murmurings, which ye are murmuring against Him, and what [are] we? your murmurings [are] not against us, but against Jehovah.'

And Moses saith unto Aaron, `Say unto all the company of the sons of Israel, Come ye near before Jehovah, for He hath heard your murmurings;'

10 and it cometh to pass, when Aaron is speaking unto all the company of the sons of Israel, that they turn towards the wilderness, and lo, the honour of Jehovah is seen in the cloud.

11 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

12 `I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel; speak unto them, saying, Between the evenings ye eat flesh, and in the morning ye are satisfied [with] bread, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah your God.'

13 And it cometh to pass in the evening, that the quail cometh up, and covereth the camp, and in the morning there hath been the lying of dew round about the camp,

14 and the lying of the dew goeth up, and lo, on the face of the wilderness a thin, bare thing, thin as hoar-frost on the earth.

15 And the sons of Israel see, and say one unto another, `What [is] it?' for they have not known what it [is]; and Moses saith unto them, `It [is] the bread which Jehovah hath given to you for food.

16 `This [is] the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Gather of it each according to his eating, an omer for a poll; and the number of your persons, take ye each for those in his tent.'

17 And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is [gathering] much, and he who is [gathering] little;

18 and they measure with an omer, and he who is [gathering] much hath nothing over, and he who is [gathering] little hath no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered.

19 And Moses saith unto them, `Let no man leave of it till morning;'

20 and they have not hearkened unto Moses, and some of them do leave of it till morning, and it bringeth up worms and stinketh; and Moses is wroth with them.

21 And they gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun hath been warm, then it hath melted.

22 And it cometh to pass on the sixth day, they have gathered a second bread, two omers for one, and all the princes of the company come in, and declare to Moses.

23 And he saith unto them, `It [is] that which Jehovah hath spoken [of]; a rest -- a holy sabbath to Jehovah -- [is] to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.'

24 And they let it rest until the morning, as Moses hath commanded, and it hath not stank, and a worm hath not been in it.

25 And Moses saith, `Eat it to-day, for to-day [is] a sabbath to Jehovah; to-day ye find it not in the field:

26 six days ye do gather it, and in the seventh day -- the sabbath -- in it there is none.'

27 And it cometh to pass on the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not found.

28 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `How long have ye refused to keep My commands, and My laws?

29 see, because Jehovah hath given to you the sabbath, therefore He is giving to you on the sixth day bread of two days; abide ye each [in] his place, no one doth go out from his place on the seventh day.'

30 And the people rest on the seventh day,

31 and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it [is] as coriander seed, white; and its taste [is] as a cake with honey.

32 And Moses saith, `This [is] the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Fill the omer with it, for a charge for your generations, so that they see the bread which I have caused you to eat in the wilderness, in My bringing you out from the land of Egypt.'

33 And Moses saith unto Aaron, `Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;'

34 as Jehovah hath given commandment unto Moses, so doth Aaron let it rest before the Testimony, for a charge.

35 And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna forty years, until their coming in unto the land to be inhabited; the manna they have eaten till their coming in unto the extremity of the land of Canaan.

36 and the omer is a tenth of the ephah.

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).