1. The whole Israelite
community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between
Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come
out of Egypt.
2. In the desert the
whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
3. The Israelites said
to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around
pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into
this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4. Then the Lord said to
Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each
day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see
whether they will follow my instructions.
5. On the sixth day they
are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they
gather on the other days.”
6. 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,
7. And in the morning
you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against
him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”
8. 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 against
him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
9. 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 of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
11. The Lord said to
Moses,
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.’”
13. That evening quail came
and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the
camp.
14. When the dew was
gone, thin flakes like frost 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 what it
was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread 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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omer_(unit)
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. 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.”
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. So Moses was angry 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 as much — two omers for each person — and the leaders of
the community 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 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, 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 refuse to keep my commands 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.” 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 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, so that it
might be preserved.
35. The Israelites ate
manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna
until they reached the border of Canaan.
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