Bread from Heaven

16 And they ajourneyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and bSinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel ccomplained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, d“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ewhen we sat by the pots of meat and 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, I will rain fbread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather 1a certain quota every day, that I may gtest them, whether they will hwalk in My law or not. 5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and iit shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, j“At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you shall see kthe glory of the Lord; for He lhears your complaints against the Lord. But mwhat are we, that you complain against us?” 8 Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but nagainst the Lord.”

9 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, o‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” 10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord pappeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 q“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, r‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and sin the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 So it was that tquails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning uthe dew lay all around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was va small round wsubstance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, x“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it yaccording to each one’s need, one zomer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they measured it by omers, ahe who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. 19 And Moses said, “Let no one bleave any of it till morning.” 20 Notwithstanding they did not 2heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is ca Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not dstink, nor were there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 eSix days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long fdo you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29 See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain 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 its name 3Manna. And git was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, h“Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up ibefore the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel jate manna kforty years, luntil they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.