Chapter 16

The Lord Provides Manna

1 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of aSin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on bthe fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.

2 The whole congregation of the sons of Israel agrumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

3 The sons of Israel said to them, “aWould that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, bwhen we sat by the pots of 1meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, aI will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may btest them, whether or not they will walk in My 1instruction.

5 “aOn 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 1ayou will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt;

7 and in the morning 1you will see athe glory of the Lord, for bHe hears your grumblings against the Lord; and cwhat are we, that you grumble against us?”

The Lord Provides Meat

8 Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you 1meat 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 anot against us but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘aCome near before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.’ ”

10 It came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they 1looked toward the wilderness, and behold, athe glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

12 “aI have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘1At twilight you shall eat 2meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and byou shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 So it came about at evening that athe quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning bthere was a layer of dew around the camp.

14 aWhen the layer of dew 1evaporated, behold, on the 2surface of the wilderness bthere 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, “1What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “aIt is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.

16 “This is 1what the Lord has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man 2as much as he should eat; you shall take 3aan omer apiece according to the number of persons 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 with an omer, ahe who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered 1as much as he should eat.

19 Moses said to them, “aLet no man 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 became foul; and Moses was angry with them.

21 They gathered it morning by morning, every man 1as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.

The Sabbath Observed

22 aNow on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the bleaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

23 then he said to them, “This is what the Lord 1meant: aTomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and ball that is left over 2put aside to be kept until morning.”

24 So they 1put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and ait did not become foul nor was there any worm in it.

25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.

26 “aSix days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be 1none.”

27 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, “aHow long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My 1instructions?

29 “See, 1the Lord has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain 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 The house of aIsrael named it 1manna, and it was like bcoriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.

32 Then Moses said, “This is 1what the Lord has commanded, ‘Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”

33 Moses said to Aaron, “aTake a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.”

34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before athe Testimony, to be kept.

35 aThe sons of Israel ate the manna 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 aan omer is a tenth of an 1ephah.)