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.)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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
Common English Bible
Wilderness food: manna and quail
16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Sin desert, which is located between Elim and Sinai. They set out on the fifteenth day of the second month[a] after they had left the land of Egypt. 2 The whole Israelite community complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. 3 The Israelites said to them, “Oh, how we wish that the Lord had just put us to death while we were still in the land of Egypt. There we could sit by the pots cooking meat and eat our fill of bread. Instead, you’ve brought us out into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I’m going to make bread rain down from the sky for you. The people will go out each day and gather just enough for that day. In this way, I’ll test them to see whether or not they follow my Instruction. 5 On the sixth day, when they measure out what they have collected, it will be twice as much as they collected on other days.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you will see the Lord’s glorious presence, because your complaints against the Lord have been heard. Who are we? Why blame us?” 8 Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning because the Lord heard the complaints you made against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren’t against us but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community, ‘Come near to the Lord, because he’s heard your complaints.’” 10 As Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned to look toward the desert, and just then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”
13 In the evening a flock of quail flew down and covered the camp. And in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the desert surface were thin flakes, as thin as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What[b] is it?” They didn’t know what it was.
Moses said to them, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Collect as much of it as each of you can eat, one omer[c] per person. You may collect for the number of people in your household.’” 17 The Israelites did as Moses said, some collecting more, some less. 18 But when they measured it out by the omer, the ones who had collected more had nothing left over, and the ones who had collected less had no shortage. Everyone collected just as much as they could eat. 19 Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it until morning.” 20 But they didn’t listen to Moses. Some kept part of it until morning, but it became infested with worms and stank. Moses got angry with them. 21 Every morning they gathered it, as much as each person could eat. But when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
22 On the sixth day the people collected twice as much food as usual, two omers per person. All the chiefs of the community came and told Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. But you can set aside and keep all the leftovers until the next morning.’” 24 So they set the leftovers aside until morning, as Moses had commanded. They didn’t stink or become infested with worms. 25 The next day Moses said, “Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find it out in the field. 26 Six days you will gather it. But on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be nothing to gather.”
27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather bread, but they found nothing. 28 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to obey my commandments and instructions? 29 Look! The Lord has given you the Sabbath. Therefore, on the sixth day he gives you enough food for two days. Each of you should stay where you are and not leave your place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The Israelite people called it manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and tasted like honey wafers. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept safe for future generations so that they can see the food that I used to feed you in the desert when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put one full omer of manna in it. Then set it in the Lord’s presence, where it should be kept safe for future generations.” 34 Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses, and he put it in front of the covenant document for safekeeping. 35 The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a livable land. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. (36 An omer[d] is one-tenth of an ephah.)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 16:1 April–May, Iyar
- Exodus 16:15 Heb man (= What?); cf Exod 16:31
- Exodus 16:16 Two quarts
- Exodus 16:36 Two quarts
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