⁴ Meanwhile, certain riff-raff among the people^[a] had an insatiable appetite^[b] for food. As a result, they wept and turned back, and the Israelis cried out, “If only somebody would feed us some meat! ⁵ How we remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt for free! And the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic! ⁶ But now we can’t stand it anymore,^[c] because there’s nothing in front of us except this manna.”

⁷ Now manna was reminiscent of coriander seed, with an appearance similar to amber.^{[d] 8} People would go out to gather it, then they would grind it in mills or pound it in mortars, and then they would boil it in pots or make cakes out of it that tasted like butter cakes. ⁹ When the dew fell in the camp, the manna came with it.