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 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)Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, ^(E)when we sat by the pots of ^[a]meat, when we 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, ^(F)I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may ^(G)test them, whether or not they will walk in My ^[b]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 ^[c](I)you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; ⁷ and in the morning ^[d]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 Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you ^[e]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 near before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.’” ¹⁰ It came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they ^[f]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, ‘^[g]At twilight you shall eat ^[h]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 ^[i]evaporated, behold, on the ^[j]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, “^[k]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 ^[l]what the Lord has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man ^[m]as much as he should eat; you shall take ^[n](W)an omer apiece according to the number of persons 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 with an omer, ^(X)he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered ^[o]as much as he should eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “^(Y)Let no man 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 became foul; and Moses was angry with them. ²¹ They gathered it morning by morning, every man ^[p]as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.

The Sabbath Observed

^22 (Z)Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the ^(AA)leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ then he said to them, “This is what the Lord ^[q]meant: ^(AB)Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and ^(AC)all that is left over ^[r]put aside to be kept until morning.” ²⁴ So they ^[s]put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and ^(AD)it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ^26 (AE)Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be ^[t]none.”

²⁷ It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(AF)How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My ^[u]instructions? ²⁹ See, ^[v]the Lord has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The house of ^(AG)Israel named it ^[w]manna, and it was like ^(AH)coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. ³² Then Moses said, “This is ^[x]what the Lord has commanded, ‘Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ Moses said to Aaron, “^(AI)Take a jar and put an omerful 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 ^(AJ)the Testimony, to be kept. ^35 (AK)The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (Now ^(AL)an omer is a tenth of an ^[y]ephah.)

¹⁵ When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “^(A)Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Parable of the Dinner

¹⁶ But He said to him, “^(B)A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; ¹⁷ and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a ^[a]piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; ^[b]please consider me excused.’ ¹⁹ Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; ^[c]please consider me excused.’ ²⁰ Another one said, ‘^(C)I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ ²¹ And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ²² And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’”

Discipleship Tested

²⁵ Now ^[d]large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “^(D)If anyone comes to Me, and does not ^[e]hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not ^(E)carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and ^(F)consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends ^[f]a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³ So then, none of you can be My disciple who ^(G)does not give up all his own possessions.

³⁴ “Therefore, salt is good; but ^(H)if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? ³⁵ It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. ^(I)He who has ears to hear, ^[g]let him hear.”