Exodus 16:1-21

New American Standard Bible

The Lord Provides Manna

16 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of ^(A)Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on ^(B)the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. ² But the whole congregation of the sons of Israel ^(C)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The sons of Israel said to them, “^(D)If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, ^(E)when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^(F)I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may ^(G)test them, whether or not they will walk in My ^[a]instruction. ^5 (H)On 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 ^[b](I)you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; ⁷ and in the morning ^[c]you will see ^(J)the glory of the Lord, for ^(K)He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and ^(L)what are we, that you grumble against us?”

The Lord Provides Meat

⁸ And Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat 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 ^(M)not against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘^(N)Come forward before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.’” ¹⁰ And it came about, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, that they ^[d]looked toward the wilderness, and behold, ^(O)the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “^(P)I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘^[e]At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and ^(Q)you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ So it came about at evening that ^(R)the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(S)there was a layer of dew around the camp. ^14 (T)When the layer of dew ^[f]evaporated, behold, on the ^[g]surface of the wilderness ^(U)there 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, “^[h]What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “^(V)It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is ^[i]what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone gather ^[j]as much as he will eat; you shall take ^[k](W)an omer apiece according to the number of people 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 by the ^[l]omer, ^(X)the one who had gathered much did not have too much, and the one who had gathered little did not have too little; everyone gathered ^[m]as much as he would eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “^(Y)No one is to 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 stank; and Moses was angry with them. ²¹ They gathered it morning by morning, everyone ^[n]as much as he would eat; but when the sun became hot, it would melt.