Beginning

16 And they went forth from Elim, and all the multitude of the sons of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is betwixt Elim and Sinai, in the fifteenth day of the second month, after that they went out of the land of Egypt. (And they went forth from Elim, and all the multitude of the Israelites came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month, after that they went out of the land of Egypt.)

² And all the congregation of the sons of Israel grouched against Moses (And all the Israelites grumbled against Moses), and against Aaron, in the wilderness.

³ And the sons of Israel said to them, We would that we had been dead by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat on the flesh pots, and ate loaves in plenty; why led ye us into this desert, that ye should slay all the multitude with hunger? (And the Israelites said to them, We wish that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and had plenty of loaves to eat; why did ye lead us into this wilderness, so that ye could kill all the multitude with hunger?)

⁴ Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I shall rain to you loaves from heaven; the people go out, that it gather those things that suffice by each day; that I assay the people, whether it go in my law, or not. (And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I shall rain down loaves from the heavens for you; have the people go out, and gather those things that suffice for each day; and I shall test, or shall prove, the people, and see if they go in my law, or not.)

⁵ Soothly in the sixth day, make they ready that that they shall bear in, and be it double over that they were wont to gather by each (other) day. (And on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it shall be double over what they were wont to gather on the other days.)

⁶ And Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, At eventide ye shall know that the Lord [hath] led you out of the land of Egypt;

⁷ and in the morrowtide ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for I heard your grouching against the Lord; soothly what be we, for ye grouch against us? (and in the morning ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for he hath heard your grumbling against him; and who be we, that ye grumble against us?)

⁸ And Moses said, The Lord shall give to you at eventide flesh to eat, and loaves in the morrowtide in plenty, for he [hath] heard your grouchings, by which ye grouched against him; for why, what be we? your grouching is not against us, but against the Lord. (And Moses said, The Lord shall give you flesh to eat in the evening, and plenty of loaves in the morning, for he hath heard your grumbling, by which ye grumbled against him; for who be we? yea, your grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord.)

⁹ And Moses said to Aaron, Say thou to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, Nigh ye before the Lord, for he [hath] heard your grouching (for he hath heard your grumbling).

¹⁰ And when Aaron spake to all the company of the sons of Israel, they beheld to the wilderness, and lo! the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

¹¹ Forsooth the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

¹² I heard the grouchings of the sons of Israel (I heard the grumbling of the Israelites); speak thou to them, (and say,) At eventide ye shall eat flesh, and in the morrowtide ye shall be filled with loaves, and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

¹³ Therefore eventide was made, and curlews went up, and covered the castles; and in the morrowtide dew came before the face of the castles. (And so the evening came, and curlews flew in, and covered the tents; and in the morning dew lay all around the tents.)

¹⁴ And when it had covered the earth, a little thing, and as pounded with a pestle, in the likeness of an hoarfrost on the earth, appeared in the wilderness. (And when it had covered all the ground, there appeared in the wilderness a little thing, as if it was pounded with a pestle, and like hoarfrost on the ground.)

¹⁵ And when the sons of Israel had seen that, they said together, Man na? which signifieth, What is this? for they wist not what it was (And when the Israelites had seen it, they said to each other, Manna? which meaneth, What is this? for they did not know what it was). To whom Moses said, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

¹⁶ This is the word which the Lord commanded, Each man gather thereof as much as it sufficeth to be eaten, omer by each head, by the number of your souls that dwell in the tabernacle, so ye shall take. (This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Each of you gather as much of it as sufficeth to be eaten, yea, an omer for each soul, such ye shall gather by the number of souls who live in your tent.)

¹⁷ And the sons of Israel did so, and they gathered (it), one more, and another less;

¹⁸ and they meted [it] at the measure of omer; neither he that gathered more had more, neither he that made ready less found less, but all gathered by that that they might eat. (and they measured it at the measure of an omer per person, and he who gathered more did not have too much, nor he who gathered less had not enough, but they all gathered just what they could eat.)

¹⁹ And Moses said to them, No man leave thereof into the morrowtide; (And Moses said to them, No one leave any of it until the next morning;)

²⁰ which heard not him, but some of them left thereof till to the morrowtide, and it began to boil with worms, and it was rotten; and Moses was wroth against them. (but some of them did not listen to him, and saved some of it for the next day, and it began to boil with worms, and it was rotten; and Moses was angry at them.)

²¹ Forsooth all they gathered in the morrowtide as much as sufficed to be eaten; and when the sun was hot, it was molten. (So every morning they all gathered as much as sufficed to be eaten; and when the sun was risen, it melted away.)

²² Soothly in the sixth day they gathered double meats, that is, two omers each man (And on the sixth day they gathered double the amount, that is, two omers for each person). Forsooth all the princes of the multitude came, and told (that) to Moses,

²³ which said to them, This it is that the Lord spake, The rest of the sabbath is hallowed to the Lord; do ye whatever thing (that) shall be wrought tomorrow, and seethe ye those things that shall be sodden; soothly whatever thing is residue, or left over, keep ye it till into the morrow. (and he said to them, This is what the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the sabbath, that is holy, or is dedicated, to the Lord; so do ye today whatever needeth to be done, and boil ye those things that need to be boiled; and whatever is left over, keep ye it for tomorrow.)

²⁴ And they did so as Moses commanded (And so they did as Moses commanded), and it was not rotten, neither a worm was found therein.

²⁵ And Moses said, Eat ye that in this day, for it is the sabbath of the Lord, it shall not be found today in the field; (And Moses said, Eat ye it today, for this is the sabbath of the Lord, and no food shall be found in the field today;)

²⁶ gather ye it in six days, forsooth the sabbath of the Lord is in the seventh day, therefore in that day it shall not be found. (gather ye it for six days, but the sabbath of the Lord is on the seventh day, and so on that day it shall not be found.)

²⁷ The seventh day came, and some of the people went out to gather, and they found not. (But the seventh day came, and some people went out to gather food, but they found it not.)

²⁸ Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, How long will ye not keep my commandments, and my law?

²⁹ See ye that the Lord gave to you the sabbath, and for that he hath given to you in the sixth day double meats; each man dwell at himself, no man go out of his place in the seventh day. (See ye that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, and for that he hath given you double the food on the sixth day; so everyone should stay at home, and no one should go out of their place on the seventh day.)

³⁰ And the people kept sabbath in the seventh day. (And so the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day.)

³¹ And the house of Israel called the name thereof man(na), which was white, as the seed of coriander, and the taste thereof was as of flour (mixed) with honey.

³² Forsooth Moses said, This is the word which the Lord commanded, Fill thou an omer thereof, and be it kept into generations to coming afterward (and let it be kept for the generations to come later), (so) that they know (of) the bread with which I fed you in (the) wilderness, when ye were led out of the land of Egypt.

³³ And Moses said to Aaron, Take thou a vessel, and put therein man(na), as much as an omer may take, and put it before the Lord, to be kept into your generations, (And Moses said to Aaron, Take thou a vessel, and put manna in it, an omer of it, and put it before the Lord, to be kept for all generations to come;)

³⁴ as the Lord commanded to Moses; and Aaron put that to be kept in the tabernacle. (so as the Lord commanded to Moses, Aaron put the vessel of manna in the Ark with the stone tablets, to be kept there forever.)

³⁵ Forsooth the sons of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came into the land habitable, that is, able to be inhabited; they were fed with this meat, till they touched the coasts of the land of Canaan. (And the Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to the land where they could live; yea, they were fed with this food, until they reached the land of Canaan.)

³⁶ Forsooth (an) omer is the tenth part of (an) ephah.

17 Therefore all the multitude of the sons of Israel went forth from the desert of Sin, by their dwellings, by the word of the Lord, and setted tents in Rephidim, where was no water to the people to drink. (And so all the Israelites went forth from the wilderness of Sin, in stages, by the word of the Lord, and pitched their tents in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.)

² Which people chided against Moses, and said, Give water to us, that we drink. To whom Moses answered, What chide ye against me, and why tempt ye the Lord? (And the people complained to Moses, and said, Give us some water to drink. To whom Moses answered, Why do ye complain to me, and why do ye tempt the Lord?)

³ Therefore the people thirsted there for the scarceness of water, and they grouched against Moses, and said, Why madest thou us to go out of Egypt, (for) to slay us, and our free children, and our beasts, for thirst? (And so the people thirsted there for the scarceness of water, and they grumbled against Moses, and said, Why hast thou made us to go out of Egypt, in order to kill us, and our children, and our beasts, with thirst?)

⁴ Forsooth Moses cried to the Lord, and said, What shall I do to this people? yet a little, and it shall stone me (What shall I do with these people? very soon they shall all stone me!).

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, Go thou before the people, and take with thee of the elder men of Israel, and take in thine hand the rod, with the which thou hast smitten the flood, and go; (The Lord said to Moses, Go thou before the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with thee, and take in thy hand the staff with which thou struck the River, and go;)

⁶ lo! I shall stand there before thee, above the stone of Horeb, and thou shalt smite the stone, and water shall go out thereof, that the people drink. Moses did so before the elder men of Israel; (lo! I shall stand there before thee, by the rock at Mount Sinai, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and then the people shall have something to drink. Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel;)

⁷ and he called the name of that place Temptation, for the chiding of the sons of Israel, and for they tempted the Lord, and said, Whether the Lord is in us, or nay? (and he called the name of that place Massah and Meribah, because of the complaining of the Israelites, and because they tempted the Lord and said, Is the Lord with us, or not?)

⁸ Forsooth Amalek came (And the Amalekites came), and fought against Israel in Rephidim.

⁹ And Moses said to Joshua, Choose thou men, and go out, and fight tomorrow against the men of Amalek; lo! I shall stand in the top of the hill, and I shall have the rod of God in mine hand. (And Moses said to Joshua, Choose thou some men, and tomorrow go out, and fight against the Amalekites; lo! I shall stand on the hill-top, and I shall have God’s staff in my hand.)

¹⁰ Joshua did as Moses spake, and he fought against Amalek. Forsooth Moses, and Aaron, and Hur went up on(to) the top of the hill;

¹¹ and when Moses raised [up] his hands, Israel overcame; forsooth if he let them down a little, Amalek overcame.

¹² Soothly Moses’ hands were (made) heavy, therefore they took a stone, and put (it) under him, on which stone he sat. Forsooth Aaron and Hur sustained his hands, on ever either side; and (so) it was done, that his hands were not made weary, till to the going down of the sun.

¹³ And Joshua drove away Amalek and his people, in the mouth of [the] sword, that is, by the sharpness of the sword, Joshua killed the strong men of Amalek.

¹⁴ Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, Write thou this in a book, for mind, and take (it) in(to) the ears of Joshua; for I shall do away the mind of Amalek from under heaven. (And the Lord said to Moses, Write thou about this in a book to remember it, and tell it to Joshua; for I shall do away all memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.)

¹⁵ And Moses builded an altar, and called the name thereof, The Lord is mine enhancer, (And Moses built an altar there, and called it Jehovahnissi,)

¹⁶ and he said, For (it is) the hand of the Lord alone, and the battle of God shall be against Amalek (and God shall fight against the Amalekites), from generation into generation.

18 And when Jethro, the priest of Midian, the ally, either (the) father of the wife of Moses, had heard all things which God had done to Moses, and to Israel his people, for the Lord had led Israel out of the land of Egypt, (And when Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, had heard of all the things which God had done for Moses, and for his people Israel, yea, that the Lord had led Israel out of the land of Egypt,)

² Jethro took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, whom Moses had sent again (whom Moses had sent back to him),

³ and his two sons, of which one was called Gershom, for the father at his birth (had) said, I was a comeling in an alien land (I was a newcomer in a foreign land),

⁴ forsooth the tother was called Eliezer, for Moses at his birth (had) said, (For the) God of my father is mine helper, and he delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.

⁵ Therefore Jethro, ally of Moses, came, and the sons of Moses and his wife came to Moses, into desert, where Jethro set tents beside the hill of God; (And so Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with Moses’ wife and their sons, into the wilderness, where Moses had pitched the tents beside God’s mountain;)

⁶ and he sent to Moses, and said, I Jethro, thine ally, come to thee, and thy wife, and thy two sons with her. (and he sent word to Moses, and said, I Jethro, thy father-in-law, have come to thee, with thy wife, and thy two sons with her.)

⁷ And Moses went out into the coming of his ally, and worshipped, and kissed him, and they greeted themselves together with peaceable words. And when Jethro had entered into the tabernacle, (And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed before him, and kissed him, and they greeted each other with friendly words. And when Jethro had gone into the tent,)

⁸ Moses told to him all (the) things which God had done to Pharaoh, and to the Egyptians, for Israel, and he told to him all the travail that befell to them in the way, of which the Lord had delivered them (and he told him of all the tribulation that had befallen them on the way, and how the Lord had saved them).

⁹ And Jethro was glad on all the goods which the Lord had done to Israel, for he [had] delivered Israel from the hand of [the] Egyptians. (And Jethro was glad for all the good things that the Lord had done for Israel, for he had saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians.)

¹⁰ And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, that delivered you from the hand(s) of the Egyptians, and from the hand of Pharaoh, the which Lord delivered his people from (being under) the hand, (or the power,) of Egypt;

¹¹ now I know that the Lord is great above all gods, for they did proudly against them. (now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for what he hath done to those who did so proudly against thee.)

¹² Therefore Jethro, ally of Moses (And so Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law), offered burnt sacrifices and offerings to God; and Aaron, and all the elder men of Israel, came to eat bread with Jethro before God.

¹³ Forsooth in the tother day, Moses sat that he should deem the people, which stood nigh to Moses, from the morrowtide till to the eventide. (And the next day, Moses sat down to judge the people, who stood about him, from the morning until the evening.)

¹⁴ And when his ally had seen this, that is, all things which he did in the people, he said, What is this that thou doest in the people? why sittest thou alone, and all the people abideth thee from the morrowtide till to eventide? (And when his father-in-law had seen this, that is, all the things which he did for the people, Jethro said, What is this that thou doest for the people? why sittest thou alone, and all the people waiteth for thee from the morning until the evening?)

¹⁵ To whom Moses answered, The people cometh to me, and asketh the sentence of God;

¹⁶ and when any strife befalleth to them, they come to me, that I deem betwixt them (so that I can judge between them), and show (them) the commandments of God, and his laws.

¹⁷ And Jethro said, Thou doest a thing that is not good,

¹⁸ thou art wasted with a fond travail, both thou, and this people that is with thee; the work is above thy strengths, thou alone mayest not suffer it (thou cannot do it all alone).

¹⁹ But hear thou my words, and my counsels, and the Lord shall be with thee; be thou to the people in these things that pertain to God, that thou tell (them) the things that be said to the people; (But hear thou my words, and my counsel, and the Lord shall be with thee; it is right to represent the people before God, and to bring their causes to him;)

²⁰ and show to the people the ceremonies, and [the] custom(s) of worshipping, and the way by which they ought to go, and the work which they ought to do.

²¹ Forsooth purvey thou of all the people wise men, and dreading God, in which is truth, and which hate avarice; and ordain thou of them tribunes, and centurions, and quinquagenaries, and deans [and ordain of them rulers upon thousands, and rulers upon hundreds, and rulers upon fifty, and rulers upon ten], (But find thou out of the people some men who be wise, and who fear God, in whom is truth, and who hate greed; and make thou them leaders of a thousand, and of a hundred, and of fifty, and of ten,)

²² which shall deem the people in all time; soothly whatever thing is greater, tell they to thee, and deem they only [the] less(er) things, and be it easier to thee, when the burden is parted into other men. (and they shall judge their people at all times; but whatever case is hard, or too difficult, let them tell that to thee, and judge they only the simple cases, and so it shall be easier for thee, when the burden is shared with these other men.)

²³ If thou shalt do this, thou shalt fulfill the commandment of God, and thou shalt be able to bear his commandments; and all this people shall turn again with peace to their places (and all these people shall return to their places in peace).

²⁴ And when these things were heard, Moses did all things which Jethro counselled.

²⁵ And when noble men of all Israel were chosen, Moses ordained them princes of the people (And when some noble men were chosen out of all Israel, Moses ordained them the people’s leaders), tribunes, and centurions, and quinquagenaries, and deans [rulers upon thousands, and rulers upon hundreds, and rulers upon fifties, and rulers upon ten],

²⁶ which deemed the people in all time; forsooth, whatever thing was harder, they told to Moses, and they deemed [the] easier things only. (who judged the people at all times; but whatever case was hard, or too difficult, they told it to Moses, and they judged only the easy, or the simple, cases.)

²⁷ And Moses let go his ally, which turned again, and went into his land. (And then Moses let his father-in-law go, and he returned to his own land.)