Exodus 16
Tree of Life Version
Manna From Heaven
16 They journeyed on from Elim, and the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving the land of Egypt. 2 But the whole congregation of Bnei-Yisrael murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 Bnei-Yisrael said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of Adonai in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full. But you have brought us into the wilderness, to kill this entire congregation with hunger.”
4 Then Adonai said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.[a] The people will go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I can test them to find out whether they will walk according to My Torah or not. 5 So on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather day by day.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all Bnei-Yisrael, “In the evening you will know that Adonai has brought you out from the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning, then you will see the glory of Adonai. For He heard your complaining against Him. What are we? You complain against us?” 8 Then Moses said, “Adonai will give you meat to eat in the evening and enough bread to fill you in the morning, since Adonai hears your complaints that you mutter against Him, what are we? Your complaining is not against us, but against Adonai!”
9 Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of Bnei-Yisrael, ‘Come near before Adonai, because He has heard your complaining.’”
10 Then, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of Bnei-Yisrael, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of Adonai appeared in the cloud. 11 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 12 “I have heard the complaining of Bnei-Yisrael. Speak to them saying, ‘At dusk you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am Adonai your God.’”
13 So when evening fell, quails came up and covered the camp. Moreover, in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew was gone, on the surface of the desert was a thin, flake-like frost, as fine as the frost on the ground. 15 When Bnei-Yisrael saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?”[b] For they did not know what it was. Then Moses said to them, “It is the bread that Adonai has given you to eat. 16 This is the word that Adonai has commanded. Every man is to gather according to his needs, an omer[c] per person, according to the number of people per household. Each man is to take it for those who are in his tent.”
17 Bnei-Yisrael did so, and some gathered more, some less. 18 When they measured it with an omer, those who gathered more had nothing left over, and those that gathered less did not lack at all. Every man gathered according to his appetite.
19 Also Moses said to them, “Let no one save any of it until the morning.”
20 However, they did not listen to Moses. Some of them preserved it until the morning—but it bred worms and rotted. So Moses was angry with them.
21 So they gathered it morning by morning, each man according to his needs, and as the sun became hot it melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each individual. So all the leaders of the community came and informed Moses. 23 But he said to them, “This is what Adonai has said. Tomorrow is a Shabbat rest, a holy Shabbat to Adonai. Bake whatever you would bake, and boil what you would boil. Store up for yourselves everything that remains, to be kept until the morning.”
24 So they set it aside until the morning, just as Moses instructed, and it did not rot nor were there any worms. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, because today is a Shabbat to Adonai. Today you will not find it in the field. 26 You are to gather it for six days, but the seventh day is the Shabbat, and there will be none.”
27 Yet on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather and they found none. 28 Adonai said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My mitzvot and My Torah? 29 See, Adonai has given you the Shabbat, so on the sixth day He gives you the bread of two days. Let every man stay in his place, and let no man go out on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The house of Israel named it manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is what Adonai has commanded. Let a full 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 from the land of Egypt.”
33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put a full omer of manna inside. Store it up before Adonai, to be kept throughout your generations.”
34 Just as Adonai commanded Moses, Aaron stored it up in front of the Testimony, to be preserved. 35 Bnei-Yisrael ate the manna for 40 years. They ate the manna until they came to an inhabited land, when they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.[d]
Footnotes
- Exodus 16:4 cf. John 6:31.
- Exodus 16:15 Heb. Mah-hu, lit. “What’s that?”
- Exodus 16:16 About two quarts.
- Exodus 16:36 An omer=about 2 dry quarts; an ephah=20.
Exodus 16
Easy-to-Read Version
Israel Complains, So God Sends Food
16 Then all the Israelites left Elim. They reached the western Sinai desert,[a] between Elim and Mount Sinai, on the 15th day of the second month[b] after leaving Egypt. 2 Then the whole community of Israelites began complaining again. They complained to Moses and Aaron in the desert. 3 They said, “It would have been better if the Lord had just killed us in the land of Egypt. At least there we had plenty to eat. We had all the food we needed. But now you have brought us out here into this desert to make us all die from hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will cause food to fall from the sky. This food will be for you to eat. Every day the people should go out and gather the food they need that day. I will do this to see if they will do what I tell them. 5 Every day the people will gather only enough food for one day. But on Friday, when the people prepare their food, they will see that they have enough food for two days.”[c]
6 So Moses and Aaron said to the Israelites, “Tonight you will see the power of the Lord. You will know that he is the one who brought you out of Egypt. 7 You have been complaining about the Lord, and he heard you. So tomorrow morning you will see the Glory of the Lord. You have been complaining and complaining about us. Maybe now we can have a little rest.”[d]
8 Then Moses said, “In the evening the Lord will give you meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. The Lord will do this because he has heard your complaining, which was against him, not us. What can we do? We do only what he tells us to do, so your complaints are really against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community of Israelites to come together before the Lord, because he has heard their complaints.”
10 So Aaron spoke to all the Israelites. While he was talking, the people turned and looked into the desert. And they saw the Glory of the Lord appear in a cloud.
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. So tell them, ‘Tonight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know you can trust the Lord, your God.’”
13 That evening, flocks of quail came and filled the camp, and in the morning dew lay on the ground all around it. 14 After the dew was gone, something like thin flakes of frost was on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, “What is that?” because they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “This is the food the Lord is giving you to eat. 16 The Lord says, ‘Each of you should gather what you need, a basket[e] of manna for everyone in your family.’”
17 So that is what the Israelites did. Some people gathered a large amount, some people gathered a little. 18 But when they measured what they had gathered, there was no shortage and there was none left over. Everyone gathered just what they needed.
19 Moses told them, “Don’t save that food to eat the next day.” 20 But some of the people did not obey Moses. They saved their food for the next day. But worms got into the food and it began to stink. Moses was angry with the people who did this.
21 Every morning the people gathered as much food as they could eat, but by noon[f] the food melted and was gone.
22 On Friday the people gathered twice as much food—two baskets[g] for every person. So all the leaders of the people came and told this to Moses.
23 Moses told them, “This is what the Lord said would happen. It happened because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the Lord. You can cook all the food you need to cook for today, but save the rest of this food for tomorrow morning.”
24 So the people saved the rest of the food for the next day, as Moses had commanded, and none of the food spoiled or had worms in it.
25 On Saturday, Moses told the people, “Today is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the Lord. So none of you should be out in the fields. Eat the food you gathered yesterday. 26 You should gather the food for six days. But the seventh day of the week is a day of rest—so there will not be any of the special food on the ground.”
27 On Saturday, some of the people went out to gather some of the food, but they could not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you people refuse to obey my commands and teachings? 29 Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for you. So on Friday he will give you enough food for two days. Then, on the Sabbath, each of you should sit down and relax. Stay where you are.” 30 So the people rested on the Sabbath.
31 The people called the special food “manna.[h]” It was like small white coriander seeds and tasted like thin cakes made with honey. 32 Moses told the people what the Lord said: “Save a basket of this food for your descendants. Then they can see the food that I gave to you in the desert when I took you out of Egypt.”
33 So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with a full basket of manna. Save this manna to put before the Lord. Save it for our descendants.” 34 (Aaron did what the Lord had commanded Moses. Aaron put the jar of manna in front of the Box of the Agreement.) 35 The people ate the manna for 40 years, until they came to the land of rest, that is, until they came to the edge of the land of Canaan. 36 (The measure they used for the manna was an omer. An omer was about 8 cups.[i])
Footnotes
- Exodus 16:1 western Sinai desert Literally, “desert of Sin.”
- Exodus 16:1 15th day of the second month That is, the 15th of Iyyar. The Israelites had been traveling for a month.
- Exodus 16:5 Friday, … two days This happened so that the people would not have to work on the Sabbath (Saturday), the day of rest.
- Exodus 16:7 You … rest Or “Who are we that you should be complaining about us?”
- Exodus 16:16 basket Literally, “1 omer” (2.2 l). Also in verses 32, 33.
- Exodus 16:21 noon Literally, “the heat of the day.”
- Exodus 16:22 two baskets Literally, “2 omers” (4.4 l).
- Exodus 16:31 manna This name is like the Hebrew phrase in verse 15 meaning “What is that?”
- Exodus 16:36 about 8 cups Literally, “1/10 of an ephah” (2.2 l).
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International