Exodus 16

¹Exodus 16:1. On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.²Exodus 16:2. And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.³Exodus 16:3. “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”⁴Exodus 16:4. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.⁵Exodus 16:5. Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”⁶Exodus 16:6. So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,⁷Exodus 16:7. and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we, that you should grumble against us?”⁸Exodus 16:8. And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”⁹Exodus 16:9. Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”¹⁰Exodus 16:10. And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.¹¹Exodus 16:11. Then the LORD said to Moses,¹²Exodus 16:12. “I have heard the grumbling 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.’”¹³Exodus 16:13. That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.¹⁴Exodus 16:14. When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.¹⁵Exodus 16:15. When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.¹⁶Exodus 16:16. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”¹⁷Exodus 16:17. So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less.¹⁸Exodus 16:18. When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.¹⁹Exodus 16:19. Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”²⁰Exodus 16:20. But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.²¹Exodus 16:21. Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.²²Exodus 16:22. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person—and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.²³Exodus 16:23. He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”²⁴Exodus 16:24. So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.²⁵Exodus 16:25. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field.²⁶Exodus 16:26. For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”²⁷Exodus 16:27. Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.²⁸Exodus 16:28. Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?²⁹Exodus 16:29. Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.”³⁰Exodus 16:30. So the people rested on the seventh day.³¹Exodus 16:31. Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.³²Exodus 16:32. Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”³³Exodus 16:33. So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”³⁴Exodus 16:34. And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.³⁵Exodus 16:35. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.³⁶Exodus 16:36. (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)