Exodus 16

1 And they journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel come to the wilderness of Sin, which [is] between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt.

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.

2 And all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmur against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;

There in the desert they complained to Moses and Aaron.

3 and the sons of Israel say to them, “Oh that we had died by the hand of YHWH in the land of Egypt, in our sitting by the flesh-pot, in our eating bread to satiety—for you have brought us out to this wilderness to put all this assembly to death with hunger.”

“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!”

4 And YHWH says to Moses, “Behold, I am raining bread from the heavens for you—and the people have gone out and gathered the matter of a day in its day—so that I try them whether they walk in My law or not;

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.

5 and it has been on the sixth day, that they have prepared that which they bring in, and it has been double above that which they gather day [by] day.”

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

6 And Moses says—Aaron also—to all the sons of Israel, “Evening—and you have known that YHWH has brought you out from the land of Egypt;

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,

7 and morning—and you have seen the glory of YHWH, in His hearing your murmurings against YHWH, and what [are] we, that you murmur against us?”

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!”

8 And Moses says, “In YHWH’s giving to you flesh to eat in the evening, and bread in the morning to satiety—in YHWH’s hearing your murmurings, which you are murmuring against Him, and what [are] we? Your murmurings [are] not against us, but against YHWH.”

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.”

9 And Moses says to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, Come near before YHWH, for He has heard your murmurings”;

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

10 and it comes to pass, when Aaron is speaking to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, that they turn toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of YHWH is seen in the cloud.

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.

11 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

12 “I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, Between the evenings you eat flesh, and in the morning you are satisfied [with] bread, and you have known that I [am] your God YHWH.”

“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.’”

13 And it comes to pass in the evening, that the quail comes up, and covers the camp, and in the morning there has been the lying of dew around the camp,

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

14 and the lying of the dew goes up, and behold, on the face of the wilderness [is] a thin, bare thing, thin as hoarfrost on the earth.

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

15 And the sons of Israel see, and say to one another, “What [is] it?” For they have not known what it [is]; and Moses says to them, “It [is] the bread which YHWH has given to you for food.

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.

16 This [is] the thing which YHWH has commanded: Gather of it, each according to his eating, an omer for the counted head; and the number of your persons, take, each, for those in his tent.”

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.’”

17 And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is [gathering] much, and he who is [gathering] little;

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

18 and they measure with an omer, and he who is [gathering] much has nothing over, and he who is [gathering] little has no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered.

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.

19 And Moses says to them, “Let no man leave of it until morning”;

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

20 and they have not listened to Moses, and some of them leave of it until morning, and it brings up worms and stinks; and Moses is angry with them.

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.

21 And they gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun has been warm, then it has melted.

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

22 And it comes to pass on the sixth day, they have gathered a second bread, two omers for one, and all the princes of the congregation come in, and declare [it] to Moses.

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.

23 And he says to them, “It [is] that which YHWH has spoken: A rest—a holy Sabbath to YHWH—[is] tomorrow; that which you bake, bake; and that which you boil, boil; and all that is remaining, let [it] rest for yourselves for preservation until the morning.”

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.’”

24 And they let it rest until the morning, as Moses has commanded, and it has not stunk, and a worm has not been in it.

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

25 And Moses says, “Eat it today, for today [is] a Sabbath to YHWH; today you do not find it in the field:

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

26 six days you gather it, and in the seventh day—the Sabbath—there is none in it.”

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

27 And it comes to pass on the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not found.

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

28 And YHWH says to Moses, “How long have you refused to keep My commands and My laws?

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

29 See, because YHWH has given the Sabbath to you, therefore He is giving to you on the sixth day bread of two days; each abide [in] his place, no one goes out from his place on the seventh day.”

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.”

30 And the people rest on the seventh day,

So the people did no work on the seventh day.

31 and the house of Israel calls its name Manna, and it [is] as white coriander seed; and its taste [is] as a cake with honey.

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

32 And Moses says, “This [is] the thing which YHWH has commanded: Fill the omer with it, for a charge for your generations, so that they see the bread which I have caused you to eat in the wilderness, in My bringing you out from the land of Egypt.”

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.’”

33 And Moses says to Aaron, “Take one pot, and put the fullness of the omer of manna [in] there, and let it rest before YHWH, for a charge for your generations”;

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.”

34 as YHWH has given command to Moses, so Aaron lets it rest before the Testimony, for a charge.

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

35 And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna [for] forty years, until their coming to the land to be inhabited; they have eaten the manna until their coming to the extremity of the land of Canaan.

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.

36 And the omer is a tenth of the ephah.

(An omer is a tenth of an ephah.)