Exodus 15:19-16:12

English Standard Version

¹⁹ For when ^(A)the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, ^(B)the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. ²⁰ Then ^(C)Miriam ^(D)the prophetess, the ^(E)sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and ^(F)all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. ²¹ And Miriam sang to them:

Bitter Water Made Sweet

²² Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of ^(H)Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³ When they came to ^(I)Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.^{[a] 24} And the people ^(J)grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ And he ^(K)cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log,^[b] and he ^(L)threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord^[c] made for them a statute and a rule, and there he ^(M)tested them, ²⁶ saying, ^(N)“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the ^(O)diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, ^(P)your healer.”

²⁷ Then ^(Q)they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Bread from Heaven

16 They ^(R)set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. ² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel ^(S)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(T)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(U)when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain ^(V)bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may ^(W)test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, ^(X)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ^(Y)“At evening ^(Z)you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you shall see the ^(AA)glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For ^(AB)what are we, that you grumble against us?” ⁸ And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—^(AC)what are we? Your grumbling is not ^(AD)against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses ^(AE)said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ^(AF)‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” ¹⁰ And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the ^(AG)glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I ^(AH)have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At ^(AI)twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(AJ)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”