Bread from Heaven

16 They ^(A)set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. ² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel ^(B)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(C)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(D)when we sat by the meat pots and 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 am about to rain ^(E)bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may ^(F)test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, ^(G)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ^(H)“At evening ^(I)you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you shall see the ^(J)glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For ^(K)what are we, that you grumble against us?” ⁸ And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—^(L)what are we? Your grumbling is not ^(M)against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses ^(N)said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ^(O)‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” ¹⁰ And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the ^(P)glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I ^(Q)have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At ^(R)twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(S)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening ^(T)quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(U)dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ^(V)“What is it?”^[a] For they ^(W)did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ^(X)“It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an ^(Y)omer,^[b] according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’”

David's Prayer of Gratitude

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, ^(A)“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? ¹⁹ And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. ^(B)You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! ²⁰ And what more can David say to you? ^(C)For you know your servant, O Lord God! ²¹ Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. ^22 (D)Therefore you are great, O Lord God. ^(E)For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ^23 (F)And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name ^(G)and doing for them^[a] great and awesome things by driving out before your people,^[b] whom ^(H)you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? ^24 (I)And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. ²⁵ And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. ²⁶ And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. ²⁷ For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. ²⁸ And now, O Lord God, you are God, and ^(J)your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, ^(K)and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

^24 (A)“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^(B)the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off ²⁵ and ^(C)give you ^(D)into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ^26 (E)I will hurl you and ^(F)the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. ²⁷ But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

The Righteous Branch

23 ^(N)“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning ^(O)the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. ^(P)Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. ^3 (Q)Then I will gather the remnant of my flock ^(R)out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, ^(S)and they shall be fruitful and multiply. ^4 (T)I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

^5 (U)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous ^(V)Branch, and ^(W)he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and ^(X)Israel will ^(Y)dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ^(Z)‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

^7 (AA)“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ ⁸ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he^[a] had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (A)King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'^[a] name had become known. Some^[b] said, ^(B)“John the Baptist^[c] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ^15 (C)But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^(D)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ^17 (E)For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^(F)bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ^18 (G)For John had been saying to Herod, ^(H)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod ^(I)feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^(J)heard him gladly.

¹¹ Beloved, ^(A)do not imitate evil but imitate good. ^(B)Whoever does good is from God; ^(C)whoever does evil has not seen God. ¹² Demetrius ^(D)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and ^(E)you know that our testimony is true.

Final Greetings

^13 (F)I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. ¹⁴ I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

¹⁵ Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, ^(G)each by name.