Exodus 16

1 And they journeyed from Elim, and the whole assembly of the children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure out of the land of Egypt.

They/We left Elim, and all the Israeli people came to the desert [named] Sin. That is between Elim and Sinai [Mountain]. That was on the fifteenth day of the second month after they/we left Egypt.

2 And the whole assembly of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness.

There in the desert, the Israeli [HYP] people complained to Aaron and Moses/me.

3 And the children of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we ate bread to the full; for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole congregation with hunger!

They said to them/us, “We wish that Yahweh had killed us in Egypt! There we had meat to eat, and all the bread that we wanted. But you have brought us into this desert in order that we will all starve to death!”

4 Then said Jehovah to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather the daily need on its day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.

Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Listen to what I am going [to do]. I am going to send something from the sky that will [take the place of] bread for all of you. When I do that, the people must go out of their tents every day and gather just enough to eat on that day. [When I do that], I will find out whether they will obey my instructions or not.

5 And it shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare what they have brought in; and it shall be twice as much as they shall gather daily.

On the sixth day [after I start doing that], they will be able to gather twice as much as on the other days, [and not have to gather any on the seventh day]. Then they can prepare it [to eat it on the 6th and 7th days].”

6 And Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, In the evening, then shall ye know that Jehovah has brought you out from the land of Egypt;

So Aaron and Moses/I said to all the Israeli people, “This evening you will know that it was Yahweh, [not we], who brought you out of Egypt.

7 and in the morning, then shall ye see the glory of Jehovah; for he has heard your murmurings against Jehovah; — and what are we, that ye murmur against us?

And tomorrow morning you will see how great Yahweh is, because he has heard what you have complained about. He is the one whom you have really complained to, because we are just his servants.” [RHQ]

8 And Moses said, When Jehovah gives you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for Jehovah hears your murmurings which ye murmur against him...and what [are] we? your murmurings are not against us, but against Jehovah.

Then Moses/I also said, “[From now on, each] evening Yahweh will give you meat to eat, and [each] morning he will give you [something that will take the place of] bread, because he has heard what you have complained about. Yahweh is the one to whom you have really complained, not us. We are just his servants.” [RHQ]

9 And Moses spoke to Aaron, Say to all the assembly of the children of Israel, Come near into the presence of Jehovah; for he has heard your murmurings.

Then Moses/I said to Aaron, “Tell all the Israeli people, ‘Come and stand here in the presence of Yahweh, because he has heard what you have been complaining about.’”

10 And it came to pass, when Aaron spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of Jehovah appeared in the cloud.

So Aaron told them that. And as Aaron was talking to all the Israeli people, they looked toward the desert, and were surprised to see the (dazzling light/incredible brightness) of Yahweh in the cloud [that had been leading them].

11 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak to them, saying, Between the two evenings ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God.

“I have heard what the Israeli people have been complaining about. So say to them, ‘From now on, each evening, you will have meat to eat. And each morning you will have something that will take the place of bread. You will have all you want of it to eat.’ Then you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].”

13 And it came to pass in the evening, that quails came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay round the camp.

That evening, (quails/small plump birds) appeared, and [there were so many that] they covered the campsite. The next morning there was [something like] dew all around the campsite.

14 And when the dew that lay [round it] was gone up, behold, on the face of the wilderness there was [something] fine, granular, fine as hoar-frost, on the ground.

When the dew evaporated, on the surface of the desert there was a thick layer of something that looked like white flakes. It looked like frost.

15 And the children of Israel saw [it], and said one to another, What is it? for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, This is the bread which Jehovah has given you to eat.

When the Israeli people saw it, since they [had never seen it before and] did not know what it was, they said to each other, “What is it?” Moses/I replied to them, “It is something Yahweh has given you to eat, to take the place of bread.

16 This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded: Gather of it every man according to what he can eat, an omer a poll, [according to] the number of your persons: ye shall take every man for those that are in his tent.

This is what Yahweh has commanded: ‘Each of you should gather as much as you need to eat. Gather two quarts/liters for each person who lives in your tents.’”

17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some much, some little.

So that is what the Israeli people did. Some gathered more and some gathered less.

18 And they measured with the omer: then he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little wanted nothing: they had gathered every man according to the measure of his eating.

But when they measured [what they had gathered], those that had gathered a lot did not have anything left over. And those that gathered less still had enough to eat. Each person gathered just what they needed.

19 And Moses said to them, Let no man leave [any] of it until the morning.

Moses/I said to them, “Do not leave any of it to eat tomorrow morning!”

20 But they did not hearken to Moses; and some men left of it until the morning; then worms bred in it and it stank. And Moses was wroth with them.

But some of them did not pay any attention to what Moses/I said. They kept some of it until the next morning. But it was full of maggots and smelled rotten. And that made Moses/me angry.

21 And they gathered it every morning, every man as much as he could eat; and when the sun became hot, it melted.

Each morning they gathered as much as they needed. But [later], when the sun got hot, [what was left on the ground] melted.

22 And it came to pass on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one; and all the princes of the assembly came and told Moses.

On the sixth day after they started gathering it, each person was able to gather four quarts/liters, which was twice [as much as they gathered on the other days]. When the leaders of the people came to Moses/me and told him/me [about that],

23 And he said to them, This is what Jehovah has said: To-morrow is the rest, the holy sabbath, of Jehovah: bake what ye will bake, and cook what ye will cook; and lay up for yourselves all that remains over, to be kept for the morning.

Moses/I said to them, “This is what Yahweh has commanded: ‘Tomorrow will be a day for you to rest completely. It will be a day dedicated to Yahweh. So today, bake or boil what you will [need for today and for tomorrow]. Whatever is left [this evening], you should put aside and keep it [to eat] tomorrow.’”

24 And they laid it up for the morning, as Moses had commanded; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm in it.

So they did what Moses/I commanded. What was left over, they kept until the next day. It did not spoil and did not get maggots in it!

25 And Moses said, Eat it to-day; for to-day is sabbath to Jehovah: to-day ye shall not find it in the field.

[On that day], Moses/I said, “Eat today [what you have saved from yesterday], because today is a day dedicated to Yahweh. Today you will not find any of that food outside.

26 Six days shall ye gather it; but on the seventh day is sabbath: on it there shall be none.

[Every week], you must gather it for six days; but on the seventh day, which will be a day of rest, you will not find any.”

27 And it came to pass on the seventh day that there went out [some] from the people to gather [it], and they found none.

On the seventh day, some of the people went outside their tents to gather some of that food, but there was none.

28 And Jehovah said to Moses, How long do ye refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

Then Yahweh [told Moses/me to say this to] the people: “How long will you people refuse to do all the things that I tell you?

29 See, for Jehovah hath given you the sabbath; therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread for two days. Abide every man in his place: let no man go from his place on the seventh day.

Listen! Yahweh has given you a day of rest. So on the sixth day [of each week], he will be giving you enough of this food for two days. Each of you should stay in his tent [and do no work] on the seventh day!”

30 And the people rested on the seventh day.

So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 And the house of Israel called its name Manna; and it was like coriander-seed, white; and the taste of it was like cake with honey.

The Israeli people called this food manna, [which sounds like the words in their language that mean ‘what is it]?’ It looked like small seeds [called] coriander, but it was white, and it tasted like thin wafers/biscuits made with honey.

32 And Moses said, This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded: Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread that I gave you to eat in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Moses/I said, “This is what Yahweh has commanded: ‘You must keep two quarts/liters of it for all future generations, so that they can see the [food that took the place of] bread that I gave to your [ancestors] when I brought them out of Egypt.’”

33 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot, and put in it an omer full of manna, and deposit it before Jehovah, to be kept for your generations.

And he/I said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put two quarts of manna in it. Then put it [in a place] where Yahweh can see it. It is to be kept like that for all future generations.”

34 As Jehovah had commanded Moses, so Aaron deposited it before the Testimony, to be kept.

[Many years later], as Yahweh had commanded Moses/me, Aaron put the jar in front of the box [that contained the stone slabs on which] the Ten Commandments [were written].

35 And the children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came into an inhabited land: they ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.

The Israeli people were able to eat manna [every day] for 40 years, until they came to the border of Canaan land.

36 Now an omer is the tenth [part] of an ephah.

(The standard measure [that they used at that time] held 20 quarts/liters.)