Exodus 16
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Rains Bread from Heaven
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 And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel (C)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the sons of Israel said to them, “(D)Would that we had died by the hand of Yahweh 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 put this whole assembly to death with hunger.”
4 Then Yahweh 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]law. 5 (H)Now it will be on the sixth day, they shall prepare what they bring in, and 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 Yahweh has brought you out of the land of Egypt; 7 and in the morning [d]you will see (J)the glory of Yahweh, for (K)He hears your grumblings against Yahweh; and (L)what are we, that you grumble against us?”
Yahweh Gives Meat and Bread
8 And Moses said, “This will happen when Yahweh gives you [e]meat to eat in the evening and bread to the full in the morning; for Yahweh hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are (M)not against us but against Yahweh.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘(N)Come near before Yahweh, for He has heard your grumblings.’” 10 Now it happened as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness, and behold, (O)the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. 11 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “(P)I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘[f]At twilight you shall eat [g]meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread, so that (Q)you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’”
13 So it happened 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)Then the layer of dew [h]evaporated, and behold, on the [i]surface of the wilderness (U)there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. 15 And the sons of Israel saw it and said to one another, “[j]What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “(V)It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat. 16 This is [k]what Yahweh has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man [l]as much as he should eat; you shall take an [m](W)omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the sons of Israel did so; some gathered much and some little. 18 And they measured it with an [n]omer, and (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 And 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 So they gathered it morning by morning, every man [p]as much as he should eat; but the sun would grow hot, and it would melt.
Yahweh Gives Bread for Two Days
22 (Z)Now it happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. Then all the (AA)leaders of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said to them, “This is what Yahweh has spoken: (AB)Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to Yahweh. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and (AC)all that is in excess [q]put aside to be kept until morning.” 24 So they [r]put it aside until morning, as Moses had commanded, and (AD)it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. 25 And Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to Yahweh; 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 [s]none.”
27 Now it happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “(AF)How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My [t]laws? 29 See, Yahweh 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 And the house of (AG)Israel named it [u]manna, and it was like (AH)coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is [v]what Yahweh 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 And Moses said to Aaron, “(AI)Take a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before Yahweh to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before (AJ)the Testimony to be kept. 35 (AK)And 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 [w]omer is a tenth of an [x]ephah.)
Footnotes
- Exodus 16:3 Or flesh
- Exodus 16:4 Or instruction
- Exodus 16:6 Lit and you
- Exodus 16:7 Lit and you
- Exodus 16:8 Or flesh
- Exodus 16:12 Lit Between the two evenings
- Exodus 16:12 Or flesh
- Exodus 16:14 Lit had gone up
- Exodus 16:14 Lit face of
- Exodus 16:15 Heb Man hu, sounds similar to manna; cf. 16:31
- Exodus 16:16 Lit the thing which
- Exodus 16:16 Lit according to his eating
- Exodus 16:16 Lit an omer for a head; an omer was approx. 2.1 qt. or 2.3 l
- Exodus 16:18 An omer was approx. 2.1 qt. or 2.3 l
- Exodus 16:18 Lit according to his eating
- Exodus 16:21 Lit according to his eating
- Exodus 16:23 Lit lay up for you
- Exodus 16:24 Lit laid it up
- Exodus 16:26 Lit none on it
- Exodus 16:28 Or instructions
- Exodus 16:31 Heb man, cf. 16:15
- Exodus 16:32 Lit the thing which
- Exodus 16:36 An omer was approx. 2.1 qt. or 2.3 l
- Exodus 16:36 An ephah was approx. 21 qt. or 23 l
Exodus 16
International Children’s Bible
The People Demand Food
16 Then the whole Israelite community left Elim. They came to the Desert of Sin. This place was between Elim and Sinai. They came to this place on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt. 2 Then the whole Israelite community grumbled to Moses and Aaron in the desert. 3 The Israelites said to them, “It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in the land of Egypt. There we had meat to eat. We had all the food we wanted. But you have brought us into this desert. You will starve us to death here.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will cause food to fall like rain from the sky. This food will be for all of you. Every day the people must go out and gather what they need for that day. I will do this to see if the people will do what I teach them. 5 On the sixth day of each week, they are to gather twice as much as they gather on other days. Then they are to prepare it.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: “This evening you will know that the Lord is the one who brought you out of Egypt. 7 Tomorrow morning you will see the greatness of the Lord. He has heard you grumble against him. We are nothing. You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.” 8 And Moses said, “Each evening the Lord will give you meat to eat. And every morning he will give you all the bread you want. He will do this because he has heard you grumble against him. You are not grumbling against Aaron and me. You are grumbling against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Speak to the whole community of the Israelites. Say to them, ‘Meet together in front of the Lord because he has heard your grumblings.’”
10 So Aaron spoke to the whole community of the Israelites. While he was speaking, they looked toward the desert. There the greatness of the Lord appeared in a cloud.
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel. So tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And every morning you will eat all the bread you want. Then you will know I am the Lord, your God.’”
13 That evening, quail came and covered the camp. And in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost were on the desert ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, “What is that?” They asked this question because they did not know what it was.
So Moses told them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 The Lord has commanded, ‘Each one of you must gather what he needs. Gather about two quarts for every person in your family.’”
17 So the people of Israel did this. Some people gathered much, and some gathered little. 18 Then they measured it. The person who gathered more did not have too much. The person who gathered less did not have too little. Each person gathered just as much as he needed.
19 Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it to eat the next day.” 20 But some of the people did not listen to Moses. They kept part of it to eat the next morning. But it became full of worms and began to stink. So Moses was angry with these people.
21 Every morning each person gathered as much food as he needed. But when the sun became hot, it melted away.
22 On the sixth day the people gathered twice as much food. They gathered four quarts for every person. So all the leaders of the community came and told this to Moses. 23 Moses said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded. Tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Lord’s holy day of rest. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil today. But save the rest of the food until tomorrow morning.”
24 So the people saved it until the next morning, as Moses had commanded. And none of it began to stink or have worms in it. 25 Moses told the people, “Eat the food you gathered yesterday. Today is a Sabbath, the Lord’s day of rest. So you will not find any out in the field today. 26 You should gather the food for six days. But the seventh day is a Sabbath day. On that day there will not be any food on the ground.”
27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they couldn’t find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will all you people refuse to obey my commands and teachings? 29 Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for all of you. So on the sixth day he will give you enough food for two days. But on the Sabbath each of you must stay where you are. Do not leave your house.” 30 So the people rested on the Sabbath.
31 The people of Israel called the food manna. The manna was like small white seeds. It tasted like wafers made with honey.
32 Then Moses said, “The Lord said, ‘Save two quarts of this food for your descendants. Then they can see the food that I gave you to eat. I did this in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’”
33 Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. And save this manna for your descendants.” 34 So Aaron did what the Lord had commanded Moses. Aaron put the jar of manna in front of the Ark of the Covenant. He did this so it could be kept. 35 The Israelites ate manna for 40 years. They ate it until they came to the land where they settled. They ate manna until they came to the edge of the land of Canaan. 36 The measure they used for the manna was two quarts. It was one-tenth of an ephah.[a]
Footnotes
- 16:36 ephah An ephah was a measure that equaled 20 quarts.
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