Exodus 16:1-21

New King James Version

Bread from Heaven

16 And they ^(A)journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and ^(B)Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. ² Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel ^(C)complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ And the children of Israel said to them, ^(D)“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(E)when we sat by the pots of meat and when we 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 will rain ^(F)bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather ^[a]a certain quota every day, that I may ^(G)test them, whether they will ^(H)walk in My law or not. ⁵ And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and ^(I)it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

⁶ Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, ^(J)“At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ And in the morning you shall see ^(K)the glory of the Lord; for He ^(L)hears your complaints against the Lord. But ^(M)what are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸ Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but ^(N)against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ^(O)‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” ¹⁰ Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord ^(P)appeared in the cloud.

¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^12 (Q)“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ^(R)‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(S)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³ So it was that ^(T)quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(U)the dew lay all around the camp. ¹⁴ And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was ^(V)a small round ^(W)substance, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, ^(X)“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it ^(Y)according to each one’s need, one ^(Z)omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

¹⁷ Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. ¹⁸ So when they measured it by omers, ^(AA)he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. ¹⁹ And Moses said, “Let no one ^(AB)leave any of it till morning.” ²⁰ Notwithstanding they did not ^[b]heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. ²¹ So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.