And the whole congregation of the people of Israel (A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 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.”

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. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, (F)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 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, 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?” 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.”

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. 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 (X)omer,[b] according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, (Y)whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and (Z)it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 16:15 Or “It is manna”; Hebrew man hu
  2. Exodus 16:16 An omer was about 2 quarts or 2 liters

In the desert the whole community grumbled(A) against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!(B) There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food(C) we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”(D)

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven(E) for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test(F) them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice(G) as much as they gather on the other days.”

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,(H) and in the morning you will see the glory(I) of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling(J) against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”(K) 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(L) against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”(M)

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(N) of the Lord appearing in the cloud.(O)

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling(P) 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.’”(Q)

13 That evening quail(R) came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew(S) around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost(T) 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(U) what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread(V) 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[a](W) 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.(X) 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.”(Y)

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.(Z) So Moses was angry(AA) with them.

21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 16:16 That is, possibly about 3 pounds or about 1.4 kilograms; also in verses 18, 32, 33 and 36