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.’” ¹⁷ And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. ¹⁸ But when they measured it with an omer, ^(Z)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 ^(AA)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.

²² On ^(AB)the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of ^(AC)solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” ²⁴ So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and ^(AD)it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today, for ^(AE)today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AF)“How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹ See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people ^(AG)rested on the seventh day.

³¹ Now the house of Israel called its name ^(AH)manna. It was ^(AI)like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a ^(AJ)jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before ^(AK)the testimony to be kept. ³⁵ The people of Israel ^(AL)ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till ^(AM)they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (An omer is ^(AN)the tenth part of an ephah.)^[c]

Water from the Rock

17 ^(AO)All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ^2 (AP)Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ^(AQ)test the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and ^(AR)the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready ^(AS)to stone me.” ⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with ^(AT)which you struck the Nile, and go. ^6 (AU)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the name of the place ^(AV)Massah^[d] and ^(AW)Meribah,^[e] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Israel Defeats Amalek

^8 (AX)Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to ^(AY)Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with ^(AZ)the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So ^(BA)Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and ^(BB)Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ Whenever Moses ^(BC)held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and ^(BD)Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ And ^(BE)Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of ^(BF)Joshua, that ^(BG)I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses ^(BH)built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, ¹⁶ saying, “A hand upon the throne^[f] of the Lord! ^(BI)The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Jethro's Advice

18 ^(BJ)Jethro, ^(BK)the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home, ³ along with her ^(BL)two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (^(BM)for he said, ^(BN)“I have been a sojourner^[g] in a foreign land”), ⁴ and the name of the other, Eliezer^[h] (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). ⁵ Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the ^(BO)mountain of God. ⁶ And when he sent word to Moses, “I,^[i] your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” ⁷ Moses ^(BP)went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and ^(BQ)kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. ⁸ Then Moses told his father-in-law ^(BR)all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. ⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, ^(BS)“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that ^(BT)the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they ^(BU)dealt arrogantly with the people.”^{[j] 12} And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law ^(BV)before God.

¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because ^(BW)the people come to me to inquire of God; ^16 (BX)when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I ^(BY)make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” ¹⁷ Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. ^(BZ)You are not able to do it alone. ¹⁹ Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall ^(CA)represent the people before God and ^(CB)bring their cases to God, ²⁰ and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know ^(CC)the way in which they must walk and ^(CD)what they must do. ²¹ Moreover, look for ^(CE)able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²² And ^(CF)let them judge the people at all times. ^(CG)Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will ^(CH)bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this, God will direct you, you will be ^(CI)able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ^25 (CJ)Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶ And ^(CK)they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and ^(CL)he went away to his own country.

Stephen's Speech

7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ² And Stephen said:

^(A)“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^(B)The God ^(C)of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^(D)before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(E)‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ^4 (F)Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^(G)after his father died, ^(H)God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. ⁵ Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised ^(I)to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^(J)though he had no child. ⁶ And God spoke to this effect—that ^(K)his offspring would ^(L)be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^(M)four hundred years. ⁷ ‘But ^(N)I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^(O)and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ And ^(P)he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^(Q)so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^(R)circumcised him on the eighth day, and ^(S)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and ^(T)Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “And the patriarchs, ^(U)jealous of Joseph, ^(V)sold him into Egypt; but ^(W)God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^(X)gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^(Y)who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹ Now ^(Z)there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ^12 (AA)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³ And ^(AB)on the second visit ^(AC)Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^(AD)Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ And ^(AE)Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^(AF)seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And ^(AG)Jacob went down into Egypt, and ^(AH)he died, he ^(AI)and our fathers, ¹⁶ and ^(AJ)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^(AK)Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷ “But ^(AL)as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^(AM)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until there arose over Egypt another king ^(AN)who did not know Joseph. ^19 (AO)He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^(AP)so that they would not be kept alive. ^20 (AQ)At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, ²¹ and ^(AR)when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses ^(AS)was instructed in ^(AT)all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^(AU)mighty in his words and deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^(AV)to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ^26 (AW)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^(AX)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ At this retort ^(AY)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^(AZ)where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “Now when forty years had passed, ^(BA)an angel appeared to him ^(BB)in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ^32 (BC)‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ^(BD)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (BE)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^(BF)have heard their groaning, and ^(BG)I have come down to deliver them. ^(BH)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^(BI)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^(BJ)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (BK)This man led them out, performing ^(BL)wonders and signs ^(BM)in Egypt and ^(BN)at the Red Sea and ^(BO)in the wilderness for ^(BP)forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^(BQ)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸ This is the one ^(BR)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^(BS)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^(BT)He received ^(BU)living ^(BV)oracles to give to us. ³⁹ Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^(BW)in their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, ^(BX)‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹ And ^(BY)they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^(BZ)were rejoicing in ^(CA)the works of their hands. ⁴² But ^(CB)God turned away and ^(CC)gave them over to worship ^(CD)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had ^(CH)the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^(CI)directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. ⁴⁵ Our fathers in turn ^(CJ)brought it in with Joshua when they ^(CK)dispossessed the nations ^(CL)that God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^(CM)until the days of David, ^46 (CN)who found favor in the sight of God and ^(CO)asked to find a dwelling place for ^(CP)the God of Jacob.^{[a] 47} But it was ^(CQ)Solomon who built a house for him. ^48 (CR)Yet the Most High does not dwell ^(CS)in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

^51 (CV)“You stiff-necked people, ^(CW)uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^(CX)As your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (CY)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^(CZ)the Righteous One, ^(DA)whom you have now betrayed and murdered, ⁵³ you who received the law ^(DB)as delivered by angels and ^(DC)did not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴ Now when they heard these things ^(DD)they were enraged, and they ^(DE)ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, ^(DF)full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^(DG)the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^(DH)at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see ^(DI)the heavens opened, and ^(DJ)the Son of Man standing ^(DK)at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together^[b] at him. ⁵⁸ Then ^(DL)they cast him out of the city and ^(DM)stoned him. And ^(DN)the witnesses laid down their garments ^(DO)at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And as they were stoning Stephen, ^(DP)he called out, “Lord Jesus, ^(DQ)receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ And ^(DR)falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^(DS)“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ^(DT)he fell asleep.