Beginning

Bread in the Morning, Meat in the Evening

16 All the people of Israel left Elim, and came to the Desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. It was the fifteenth day of the second month after they left the land of Egypt. ² And all the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert, ³ saying, “We should have died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. For you have brought us out into this desert to kill all of us with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people will go out and gather a day’s share every day, so I may test them to see if they will follow My Law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as they gather each day.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to the people of Israel, “This evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ And in the morning you will see the greatness of the Lord. For He hears your complaining against the Lord. What are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸ Moses said, “The Lord is giving you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning. For He hears how you complain against Him. What are we? You complain not against us, but against the Lord.” ⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the people of Israel, ‘Come near to the Lord, for He has heard your complaining.’” ¹⁰ When Aaron spoke to all the people of Israel, they looked toward the desert. And they saw in the cloud the shining-greatness of the Lord. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the complaining of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘In the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening quails came and covered the place where the people were staying. And in the early morning a little water was around the tents. ¹⁴ When the water had gone, there were small white pieces all over the ground of the desert. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has told you to do: ‘Every man gather as much of it as he can eat. Take a jar for every person that each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ The people did so. Some gathered much and some less. ¹⁸ When they saw how much they had, he who had gathered much had no more than what was needed. And he who had gathered less had enough. Every man gathered as much as he could eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “Let no one save any of it until morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it until morning. And worms grew in it and it became bad to eat. So Moses was angry with them. ²¹ Morning after morning they gathered it, every man as much as he could eat. But when the sun became hot, it would melt.

²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two jars for each person. When all the leaders of the people came and told Moses, ²³ he said to them, “This is what the Lord said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of rest, a holy Day of Rest to the Lord. Make ready the food you will need for today. Then put aside what is left to be kept until morning.’” ²⁴ So they put it aside until morning, as Moses told them. And it did not become bad to eat, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today. For today is a Day of Rest to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you will gather it. But on the seventh day, the Day of Rest, there will be none.” ²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it. But they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “How much longer will you go against My Word and My Laws? ²⁹ See, the Lord has given you the Day of Rest. This is why He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Every man should stay home and not leave his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The people of Israel called it bread from heaven. It was like coriander seed, white, and tasted like bread made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Let a jar of it be kept for your children and grandchildren to come, so they may see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar full of the bread from heaven. And put it before the Lord, to be kept for all your children to come.” ³⁴ As the Lord told Moses, Aaron put it in front of the special box of the agreement to be kept. ³⁵ The people of Israel ate the bread from heaven forty years, until they came to a land where other people lived. They ate the bread from heaven until they came to the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (It took about ten jars to fill a large basket.)

Water from the Rock

17 All the people of Israel left the Desert of Sin, traveling from one place to another as the Lord told them. They set up their tents at Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. ² So the people argued with Moses, saying, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you argue with me? Why do you test the Lord?” ³ But the people were thirsty there for water. They complained against Moses, saying, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and animals with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses called to the Lord, saying, “What should I do with these people? They are almost ready to throw stones at me.” ⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Pass in front of the people and take some of the leaders of Israel with you. Take the special stick in your hand with which you hit the Nile, and go. ⁶ See, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb. When you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, with the leaders of Israel watching. ⁷ He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the arguing of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

War with Amalek

⁸ Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us. And go out and fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the special stick of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ Joshua did as Moses told him. He fought against Amalek. And Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ When Moses held up his hand, Israel would be winning. But when he let his hand down, Amalek would win. ¹² Moses’ hands became tired. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. His hands did not move until the sun went down. ¹³ So Joshua destroyed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this in a book, to be remembered, and tell Joshua that I will take away everything under heaven that would help you remember Amalek.” ¹⁵ Moses built an altar and gave it the name The Lord is My Banner. ¹⁶ And he said, “Because the Lord has promised to have war against Amalek through all time.”

Jethro Helps Moses

18 Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, the religious leader of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people. He heard about how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, had taken Moses’ wife, Zipporah, after Moses had sent her away. ³ And he had taken her two sons. One was given the name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a strange land.” ⁴ The other was given the name Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help. And He saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

⁵ Then Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, came to Moses with his sons and his wife to the desert by the mountain of God where he was staying. ⁶ He sent the news to Moses, “I, your father-in-law, Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” ⁷ Then Moses went to meet his father-in-law. He bowed down and kissed him. They asked each other if all was well, and went into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law all the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians because of Israel. He told him about how they had suffered on the way, and how the Lord had saved them. ⁹ Jethro was glad because of all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in saving them from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ So Jethro said, “Honor and thanks be to the Lord, Who saved you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and Who made you free from the power of Egypt. ¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods. It was proven when they acted in their pride against the people.” ¹² Then Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, gave a burnt gift in worship to God. And Aaron came with all the leaders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

Men Who Judge

¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood around Moses from morning until evening. ¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw all he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone and judge and all the people stand around you from morning until evening?” ¹⁵ Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to learn God’s will. ¹⁶ When they argue, they come to me. And I judge between a man and his neighbor. I teach them the Laws of God.” ¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and the people with you will become tired and weak. For the work is too much for you. You cannot do it alone. ¹⁹ Now listen to me. I will tell you what you should do, and God be with you. You speak for the people before God. Bring the troubles to God. ²⁰ Then teach them the Laws. Make them know the way they must walk and the work they must do. ²¹ Also, you should choose from the people able men who fear God, men of truth who hate to get things by doing wrong. Have these men rule over the people, as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. ²² Let them judge the people at all times. Have all the big troubles brought to you. But have them judge the small troubles. So it will be easier for you. They will share the work with you. ²³ If you do this and God tells you to do it, then you will be able to keep your strength. And all these people will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. ²⁵ Moses chose able men out of all Israel. And he made them leaders over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. ²⁶ They judged the people at all times. They would bring the big troubles to Moses. But they would judge every small trouble themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law return to his own land.