Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain (A)bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather [a]a certain quota every day, that I may (B)test them, whether they will (C)walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and (D)it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, (E)“At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see (F)the glory of the Lord; for He (G)hears your complaints against the Lord. But (H)what are we, that you complain against us?” Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but (I)against the Lord.”

Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, (J)‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” 10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord (K)appeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 (L)“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, (M)‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and (N)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 So it was that (O)quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning (P)the dew lay all around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was (Q)a small round (R)substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, (S)“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it (T)according to each one’s need, one (U)omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they measured it by omers, (V)he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. 19 And Moses said, “Let no one (W)leave any of it till morning.” 20 Notwithstanding they did not [b]heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is (X)a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not (Y)stink, nor were there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 (Z)Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 16:4 Lit. the portion of a day in its day
  2. Exodus 16:20 listen to

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven(A) for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test(B) 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(C) 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,(D) and in the morning you will see the glory(E) of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling(F) against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”(G) 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(H) against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”(I)

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(J) of the Lord appearing in the cloud.(K)

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

13 That evening quail(N) came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew(O) around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost(P) 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(Q) what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread(R) 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](S) 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.(T) 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.”(U)

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.(V) So Moses was angry(W) 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(X) as much—two omers[b] for each person—and the leaders of the community(Y) 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(Z) 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,(AA) there will not be any.”

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
  2. Exodus 16:22 That is, possibly about 6 pounds or about 2.8 kilograms