Old/New Testament
The People Demand Food
16 Then the whole Israelite community left Elim. They came to the Desert of Sin. This place was between Elim and Sinai. They came to this place on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt. 2 Then the whole Israelite community grumbled to Moses and Aaron in the desert. 3 The Israelites said to them, “It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in the land of Egypt. There we had meat to eat. We had all the food we wanted. But you have brought us into this desert. You will starve us to death here.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will cause food to fall like rain from the sky. This food will be for all of you. Every day the people must go out and gather what they need for that day. I will do this to see if the people will do what I teach them. 5 On the sixth day of each week, they are to gather twice as much as they gather on other days. Then they are to prepare it.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: “This evening you will know that the Lord is the one who brought you out of Egypt. 7 Tomorrow morning you will see the greatness of the Lord. He has heard you grumble against him. We are nothing. You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.” 8 And Moses said, “Each evening the Lord will give you meat to eat. And every morning he will give you all the bread you want. He will do this because he has heard you grumble against him. You are not grumbling against Aaron and me. You are grumbling against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Speak to the whole community of the Israelites. Say to them, ‘Meet together in front of the Lord because he has heard your grumblings.’”
10 So Aaron spoke to the whole community of the Israelites. While he was speaking, they looked toward the desert. There the greatness of the Lord appeared in a cloud.
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel. So tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And every morning you will eat all the bread you want. Then you will know I am the Lord, your God.’”
13 That evening, quail came and covered the camp. And in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost were on the desert ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, “What is that?” They asked this question because they did not know what it was.
So Moses told them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 The Lord has commanded, ‘Each one of you must gather what he needs. Gather about two quarts for every person in your family.’”
17 So the people of Israel did this. Some people gathered much, and some gathered little. 18 Then they measured it. The person who gathered more did not have too much. The person who gathered less did not have too little. Each person gathered just as much as he needed.
19 Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it to eat the next day.” 20 But some of the people did not listen to Moses. They kept part of it to eat the next morning. But it became full of worms and began to stink. So Moses was angry with these people.
21 Every morning each person gathered as much food as he needed. But when the sun became hot, it melted away.
22 On the sixth day the people gathered twice as much food. They gathered four quarts for every person. So all the leaders of the community came and told this to Moses. 23 Moses said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded. Tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Lord’s holy day of rest. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil today. But save the rest of the food until tomorrow morning.”
24 So the people saved it until the next morning, as Moses had commanded. And none of it began to stink or have worms in it. 25 Moses told the people, “Eat the food you gathered yesterday. Today is a Sabbath, the Lord’s day of rest. So you will not find any out in the field today. 26 You should gather the food for six days. But the seventh day is a Sabbath day. On that day there will not be any food on the ground.”
27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they couldn’t find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will all you people refuse to obey my commands and teachings? 29 Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for all of you. So on the sixth day he will give you enough food for two days. But on the Sabbath each of you must stay where you are. Do not leave your house.” 30 So the people rested on the Sabbath.
31 The people of Israel called the food manna. The manna was like small white seeds. It tasted like wafers made with honey.
32 Then Moses said, “The Lord said, ‘Save two quarts of this food for your descendants. Then they can see the food that I gave you to eat. I did this in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’”
33 Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. And save this manna for your descendants.” 34 So Aaron did what the Lord had commanded Moses. Aaron put the jar of manna in front of the Ark of the Covenant. He did this so it could be kept. 35 The Israelites ate manna for 40 years. They ate it until they came to the land where they settled. They ate manna until they came to the edge of the land of Canaan. 36 The measure they used for the manna was two quarts. It was one-tenth of an ephah.[a]
Water from a Rock
17 The whole Israelite community left the Desert of Sin. They traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim. But there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses. They said, “Give us water to drink.”
But Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But the people were very thirsty for water. So they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it to kill us, our children and our farm animals with thirst?”
4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What can I do with these people? They are almost ready to kill me with stones.”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go ahead of the people of Israel. And take some of the elders of Israel with you. Carry with you the walking stick that you used to strike the Nile River. Now go! 6 I will stand in front of you on a rock at Mount Sinai. Hit that rock with the stick, and water will come out of it. Then the people can drink.” Moses did these things as the elders of Israel watched. 7 Moses named that place Massah[b] because the Israelites tested the Lord. They asked, “Is the Lord with us or not?” He also named it Meribah[c] because they quarreled.
The Amalekites Fight Israel
8 At Rephidim the Amalekites came and fought the Israelites. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men and go and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill. I will hold the stick God gave me to carry.”
10 Joshua obeyed Moses and went to fight the Amalekites. At the same time Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held his hands up, the Israelites would win the fight. But when Moses put his hands down, the Amalekites would win. 12 Later, Moses’ arms became tired. So the men put a large rock under Moses, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands. Aaron was on one side of Moses, and Hur was on the other side. They held his hands up like this until the sun went down. 13 So Joshua defeated the Amalekites in this battle.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write about this battle in a book so people will remember. And be sure to tell Joshua. Tell him because I will completely destroy the Amalekites from the earth.”
15 Then Moses built an altar. He named it The Lord is my Banner. 16 Moses said, “I lifted my hands toward the Lord’s throne. The Lord will fight against the Amalekites forever.”
Jethro Visits Moses
18 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was the priest of Midian. He heard about everything that God had done for Moses and his people, the Israelites. Jethro heard how the Lord had led the Israelites out of Egypt. 2 Moses had sent his wife Zipporah to Jethro, his father-in-law. 3 Moses had also sent his two sons. The first son was named Gershom.[d] When he was born, Moses said, “I am a stranger in a foreign country.” 4 The other son was named Eliezer.[e] When he was born, Moses said, “The God of my father is my help. He saved me from the king of Egypt.”
5 So Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, went to Moses. Moses was camped in the desert near Sinai, the mountain of God. Moses’ wife and his two sons came with Jethro. 6 Jethro had sent a message ahead to Moses. He said, “I am Jethro, your father-in-law. I am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. Moses bowed down and then kissed him. The two men asked about each other’s health. Then they went into Moses’ tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law everything the Lord had done to the king and the Egyptians. The Lord had done these things to help Israel. Moses told about all the problems they had faced along the way. And Moses told him how the Lord had saved them.
9 Jethro was very happy when he heard all the good things the Lord had done for Israel. He was happy because the Lord had saved them from the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, “Praise the Lord. He has saved all of you from the Egyptians and their king. He has saved the people from the power of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know the Lord is greater than all gods. He did this to those who looked down on Israel.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, gave a whole burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to Moses’ father-in-law. They ate the holy meal together before God.
13 The next day Moses solved disagreements among the people. So the people stood around Moses from morning until night. 14 Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people. He asked, “What is all this you are doing for the people? Why are you the only one to solve disagreements? All the people are standing around you from morning until night!”
15 Then Moses said to his father-in-law, “It is because the people come to me for God’s help in solving their disagreements. 16 When people have a disagreement, they come to me. I decide who is right. And I tell them God’s laws and teachings.”
17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “You are not doing this right. 18 You and the people who come to you will get too tired. This is too much work for you. You can’t do it by yourself. 19 Now listen to me. I will give you some advice. I want God to be with you. You must talk to God for the people. You must tell him about their disagreements. 20 You should tell them the laws and teachings. Tell them the right way to live and what they should do. 21 But choose some capable men from among the people. Choose men who respect God and who can be trusted. They will not change their decisions for money. Make these men officers over groups of 1,000, 100, 50 and 10 people. 22 Let these officers solve the disagreements among the people all the time. They can bring the hard cases to you. But they can decide the simple cases themselves. That will make it easier for you. These men will share the work with you. 23 Do this if it is what God commands. Then you will be able to do your job. And all the people will go home with their disagreements solved.”
24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all the Israelites. He made them leaders over the people. They were officers over groups of 1,000, 100, 50 and 10 people. 26 These officers solved disagreements among the people all the time. They brought the hard cases to Moses. But they decided the simple cases themselves.
27 Then Moses let his father-in-law leave. And Jethro went back to his own home.
Who Is the Greatest?
18 At that time the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to him. He stood the child before the followers. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth. You must change and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.
5 “Whoever accepts a little child in my name accepts me. 6 If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, then it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for him to have a large stone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea. 7 How terrible for the people of the world because of the things that cause them to sin. Such things will happen. But how terrible for the one who causes them to happen. 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to have only part of your body but have life forever. That is much better than to have two hands and two feet but be thrown into the fire that burns forever. 9 If your eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better for you to have only one eye but have life forever. That is much better than to have two eyes but be thrown into the fire of hell.
A Lost Sheep
10 “Be careful. Don’t think these little children are worth nothing. I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my Father in heaven. 11 [The Son of Man came to save lost people.][a]
12 “If a man has 100 sheep, but 1 of the sheep gets lost, he will leave the other 99 sheep on the hill. He will go to look for the lost sheep. 13 And if he finds it, he is happier about that 1 sheep than about the 99 that were never lost. I tell you the truth. 14 In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost.
When a Person Sins Against You
15 “If your brother sins against you,[b] go and tell him what he did wrong. Do this in private. If he listens to you, then you have helped him to be your brother again. 16 But if he refuses to listen, then go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’[c] 17 If he refuses to listen to them, then tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him as you would one who does not believe in God. Treat him as if he were a tax collector.
18 “I tell you the truth. The things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. The things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.
19 “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something, then you can pray for it. And the thing you ask for will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.