² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel ^(A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(B)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(C)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 ^(D)bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may ^(E)test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, ^(F)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ^(G)“At evening ^(H)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 ^(I)glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For ^(J)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—^(K)what are we? Your grumbling is not ^(L)against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses ^(M)said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ^(N)‘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 ^(O)glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I ^(P)have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At ^(Q)twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(R)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening ^(S)quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(T)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, ^(U)“What is it?”^[a] For they ^(V)did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ^(W)“It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

²¹ For to me ^(A)to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ^23 (B)I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is ^(C)to depart and ^(D)be with Christ, for that is far better. ²⁴ But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ^25 (E)Convinced of this, ^(F)I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your ^(G)progress and ^(H)joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that in me ^(I)you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

²⁷ Only ^(J)let your manner of life be ^(K)worthy^[a] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you ^(L)that you are standing firm in one spirit, with ^(M)one mind ^(N)striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is ^(O)a clear sign to them of their destruction, but ^(P)of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹ For ^(Q)it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also ^(R)suffer for his sake, ³⁰ engaged in the same ^(S)conflict that ^(T)you saw I had and now hear that I still have.