Chapter 16

1 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. 2And all the company of the sons of Israel murmur against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; 3and 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.’ 4And 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; 5and 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.’ 6And 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; 7and 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?’ 8And 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.’ 9And 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;’ 10and 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. 11And 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, 14and 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. 15And 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.’ 17And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is gathering much, and he who is gathering little; 18and 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. 19And Moses saith unto them, ‘Let no man leave of it till morning;’ 20and 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. 21And 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. 23And 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.’ 24And they let it rest until the morning, as Moses hath commanded, and it hath not stank, and a worm hath not been in it. 25And Moses saith, ‘Eat it to-day, for to-day is a sabbath to Jehovah; to-day ye find it not in the field: 26six days ye do gather it, and in the seventh day—the sabbath—in it there is none.’ 27And it cometh to pass on the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not found. 28And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘How long have ye refused to keep My commands, and My laws? 29see, 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.’ 30And the people rest on the seventh day, 31and 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.’ 33And 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;’ 34as Jehovah hath given commandment unto Moses, so doth Aaron let it rest before the Testimony, for a charge. 35And 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. 36and the omer is a tenth of the ephah.