Exodus 16

1 The whole Israelite community left Elim and went to the Desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. This was on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt.

And they departed from Aelim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Aelim and Sina; and on the fifteenth day, in the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt,

2 There in the desert they complained to Moses and Aaron.

all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron.

3 “The Lord should've killed us back in Egypt!” the Israelites told them. “At least there we could sit down beside stewpots of meat and eat bread until we were full. But you had to bring all of us out here in the desert to starve us all to death!”

And the children of Israel said to them, Would we had died smitten by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and ate bread to satiety! for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to slay all this congregation with hunger.

4 The Lord told Moses, “Just watch! I'm going to rain down bread from heaven for you! Each day the people are to go out and collect enough for that day. I'm going to test them by this to find out whether they'll follow my instructions or not.

And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I [will] rain bread upon you out of heaven: and the people shall go forth, and they shall gather their daily portion for the day, that I may try them whether they will walk in my law or not.

5 On the sixth day they are to collect twice as much as usual and prepare it.”

And it shall come to pass on the sixth day that they shall prepare whatsoever they have brought in, and it shall be double of what they shall have gathered for the day, daily.

6 So Moses and Aaron explained to all the Israelites, “This evening you will have the proof that it was the Lord who led you out of Egypt,

And Moses and Aaron said to all the congregation of the children of Israel, At even ye shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt;

7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord displayed as he responds to the complaints he's heard you making against him. For why should you be complaining to us? We're nobodies!”

and in the morning ye shall see the glory of the Lord, inasmuch as he hears your murmuring against God; and who are we, that ye continue to murmur against us?

8 Then Moses continued, “The Lord is going to give you meat to eat this evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, for he has heard your complaints against him. Why are you complaining to us nobodies? Your complaints aren't directed against us, but against the Lord.”

And Moses said, [This shall be] when the Lord gives you in the evening flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to satiety, because the Lord has heard your murmuring, which ye murmur against us: and what are we? for your murmuring is not against us, but against God.

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole Israelite community, ‘Present yourselves before the Lord, because he has heard your complaints.’”

And Moses said to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before God; for he has heard your murmuring.

10 While Aaron was still speaking to all the Israelites, they looked toward the desert and saw the glory of the Lord appear in a cloud.

And when Aaron spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they turned toward the wilderness, then the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

11 The Lord told Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

12 “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘In the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have as much bread as you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel: speak to them, saying, Towards evening ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be satisfied with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

13 That evening quail flew in and landed, filling the camp. In the morning dew covered the ground all around the camp.

And it was evening, and quails came up and covered the camp:

14 Once the dew had gone, there was something thin and flaky on the desert, looking like frost crystals on the ground.

in the morning it came to pass as the dew ceased round about the camp, that, behold, on the face of the wilderness [was] a small thing like white coriander seed, as frost upon the earth.

15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each another, “What is it?” because they had no idea what it was. So Moses explained to them, “It's the bread the Lord has provided for you to eat.

And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is this? for they knew not what it was; and Moses said to them,

16 This is what the Lord has ordered you to do: ‘All of you shall collect as much as is needed. Take an omer for each person in your tent.’”

This [is] the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is that which the Lord has appointed: gather of it each man for his family, a homer for each person, according to the number of your souls, gather each of you with his fellow-lodgers.

17 So the Israelites did as they were told. Some collected more, while others collected less.

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

18 But when they measured it out in omers, those who had collected a lot didn't have any left over, while those who had only collected a little still had enough. Each person collected gathered as much as they needed to eat.

And having measured the homer [full], he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered less had no lack; each gathered according to the need of those who belonged to him.

19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to leave any of it until the morning.”

And Moses said to them, Let no man leave of it till the morning.

20 But some didn't listen to Moses. They did leave some of it until the morning, and it was full of maggots and smelled bad. Moses became angry with them.

But they did not hearken to Moses, but some left of it till the morning; and it bred worms and stank: and Moses was irritated with them.

21 So each morning everyone collected as much as they needed, and when the sun became hot, it melted away to nothing.

And they gathered it every morning, each man what he needed, and when the sun waxed hot it melted.

22 However, on the sixth day, they collected twice as much of this food, two omers for each person. All the Israelite leaders came and told Moses what they had done.

And it came to pass on the sixth day, they gathered double what was needed, two homers for one [man]; and all the chiefs of the synagogue went in and reported it to Moses.

23 Moses replied, “These are the Lord's instructions: ‘Tomorrow is a special day of rest, a holy Sabbath to honor the Lord. So bake what you want, and boil what you want. Then put to one side what's left and keep it until morning.’”

And Moses said to them, Is not this the word which the Lord spoke? To-morrow [is] the sabbath, a holy rest to the Lord: bake that ye will bake, and seethe that ye will seethe, and all that is over leave to be laid by for the morrow.

24 So they kept it until morning as Moses had ordered, and it didn't smell bad or have any maggots.

And they left of it till the morning, as Moses commanded them; and it stank not, neither was there a worm in it.

25 Moses told them, “Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath to honor the Lord. Today you won't find anything out there.

And Moses said, Eat [that] to-day, for to-day is a sabbath to the Lord: [it] shall not be found in the plain.

26 You can go out collecting for six days, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it won't be there.”

Six days ye shall gather it, and on the seventh day is a sabbath, for there shall be none on that [day].

27 However, on the seventh day some people still went out collecting, but they did not find anything.

And it came to pass on the seventh day [that] some of the people went forth to gather, and found none.

28 The Lord told Moses, “How long are you going to refuse to obey my commands and instructions?

And the Lord said to Moses, How long are ye unwilling to hearken to my commands and my law?

29 You need to understand that the Lord has given you the Sabbath, so on the sixth day he will provide you with food for two days. On the seventh day, everyone has to stay where they are—no one needs to go out.”

See, for the Lord has given you this day [as] the sabbath, therefore he has given you on the sixth day the bread of two days: ye shall sit each of you in your houses; let no one go forth from his place on the seventh day.

30 So the people did no work on the seventh day.

And the people kept sabbath on the seventh day.

31 The Israelites called the food manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers with honey.

And the children of Israel called the name of it Man; and it was as white coriander seed, and the taste of it as a wafer with honey.

32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has ordered: ‘Keep an omer of manna as a reminder for future generations, so that they can see the food I used to feed you in the desert when I led you out of Egypt.’”

And Moses said, This [is] the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Fill an homer with manna, to be laid up for your generations; that they may see the bread which ye ate in the wilderness, when the Lord led you forth out of the land of Egypt.

33 So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept as a reminder for future generations.”

And Moses said to Aaron, Take a golden pot, and cast into it one full homer of manna; and thou shalt lay it up before God, to be kept for your generations,

34 Aaron did so and placed the jar in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the Lord had ordered Moses.

as the Lord commanded Moses: and Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept.

35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to the land where they would settle down—they ate manna until they arrived at the border of Canaan.

And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to the land they ate the manna, until they came to the region of Phoenicia.

36 (An omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

Now the homer was the tenth part of three measures.