Exodus 16:1-35

New American Standard Bible

The Lord Provides Manna

16 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of ^(A)Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on ^(B)the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. ² But the whole congregation of the sons of Israel ^(C)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The sons of Israel said to them, “^(D)If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, ^(E)when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^(F)I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may ^(G)test them, whether or not they will walk in My ^[a]instruction. ^5 (H)On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening ^[b](I)you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; ⁷ and in the morning ^[c]you will see ^(J)the glory of the Lord, for ^(K)He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and ^(L)what are we, that you grumble against us?”

The Lord Provides Meat

⁸ And Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are ^(M)not against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘^(N)Come forward before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.’” ¹⁰ And it came about, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, that they ^[d]looked toward the wilderness, and behold, ^(O)the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “^(P)I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘^[e]At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and ^(Q)you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ So it came about at evening that ^(R)the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(S)there was a layer of dew around the camp. ^14 (T)When the layer of dew ^[f]evaporated, behold, on the ^[g]surface of the wilderness ^(U)there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “^[h]What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “^(V)It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is ^[i]what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone gather ^[j]as much as he will eat; you shall take ^[k](W)an omer apiece according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. ¹⁸ When they measured it by the ^[l]omer, ^(X)the one who had gathered much did not have too much, and the one who had gathered little did not have too little; everyone gathered ^[m]as much as he would eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “^(Y)No one is to leave any of it until morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank; and Moses was angry with them. ²¹ They gathered it morning by morning, everyone ^[n]as much as he would eat; but when the sun became hot, it would melt.

The Sabbath

^22 (Z)Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, ^[o]two omers for each one. When all the ^(AA)leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ then he said to them, “This is what the Lord ^[p]meant: ^(AB)Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and ^(AC)all that is left over ^[q]put aside to be kept until morning.” ²⁴ So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and ^(AD)it did not stink nor was there a maggot in it. ²⁵ Then Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ^26 (AE)Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be ^[r]none.”

²⁷ Yet it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(AF)How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My ^[s]instructions? ²⁹ See, ^[t]the Lord has given you the Sabbath; for that reason He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain, everyone, in his place; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ And the house of ^(AG)Israel named the bread ^[u]manna, and it was like ^(AH)coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. ³² Then Moses said, “This is ^[v]what the Lord has commanded: ‘A ^[w]full omer of it is to be kept safe throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “^(AI)Take a jar and put a ^[x]full omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept safe throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before ^(AJ)the Testimony, to be kept. ³⁵ And ^(AK)the sons of Israel ate the manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.