^4 (A) The Lord said to Moses, “I will send bread^[a] down from heaven like rain. Tell the people to go out each day and gather only enough for that day. That's how I will see if they obey me. ⁵ But on the sixth day of each week they must gather and cook twice as much.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron told the people, “This evening you will know that the Lord was the one who rescued you from Egypt. ⁷ And in the morning you will see his glorious power, because he has heard your complaints against him. Why should you grumble to us? Who are we?”

⁸ Then Moses continued, “You will know it is the Lord when he gives you meat each evening and more than enough bread each morning. He is really the one you are complaining about, not us—we are nobodies—but the Lord has heard your complaints.”

⁹ Moses turned to Aaron and said, “Bring the people together, because the Lord has heard their complaints.”

¹⁰ Aaron was speaking to them, when everyone looked out toward the desert and saw the bright glory of the Lord in a cloud. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard my people complain. Now tell them that each evening they will have meat and each morning they will have more than enough bread. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

¹³ That evening a lot of quails came and landed everywhere in the camp, and the next morning dew covered the ground. ¹⁴ After the dew had gone, the desert was covered with thin flakes that looked like frost. ^15 (B) The people had never seen anything like this, and they started asking each other, “What is it?”^[b]

Moses answered, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

The Lord Gives Water from a Rock

17 ^(A) The Israelites left the desert and moved from one place to another each time the Lord ordered them to. Once they camped at Rephidim,^[a] but there was no water for them to drink.

² The people started complaining to Moses, “Give us some water!”

Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the Lord to the test?”

³ But the people were thirsty and kept on complaining, “Moses, did you bring us out of Egypt just to let us and our families and our animals die of thirst?”

⁴ Then Moses prayed to the Lord, “What am I going to do with these people? They are about to stone me to death!”

⁵ The Lord answered, “Take some of the leaders with you and go ahead of the rest of the people. Also take along the walking stick with which you struck the Nile River. ⁶ When you get to the rock at Mount Sinai,^[b] I will be there with you. Strike the rock with the stick, and water will pour out for the people to drink.” Moses did this while the leaders watched.

⁷ The people had complained and tested the Lord by asking, “Is the Lord really with us?” So Moses named that place Massah, which means “testing” and Meribah, which means “complaining.”

^20-21 and I told you, “We have reached the hill country. It belongs to the Amorites now, but the Lord our God is giving it to us. He is the same God our ancestors worshiped, and he has told us to go in and take this land, so don't hesitate and be afraid.”

^20-21 and I told you, “We have reached the hill country. It belongs to the Amorites now, but the Lord our God is giving it to us. He is the same God our ancestors worshiped, and he has told us to go in and take this land, so don't hesitate and be afraid.”