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.

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 all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmur 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 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.”

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 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;

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 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 [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 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 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 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 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 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/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 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/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 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.

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 YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

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 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 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, (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 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.

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

So that is what the Israeli people did. Some gathered more and some gathered 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 [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 says to them, “Let no man leave of it until morning”;

Moses/I said to them, “Do not leave any of it to eat tomorrow 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 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 gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun has been warm, then it has 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 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.

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 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/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 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 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 says, “Eat it today, for today [is] a Sabbath to YHWH; today you do 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 you gather it, and in the seventh day—the Sabbath—there is none in it.”

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

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

28 And YHWH says to Moses, “How long have you refused to keep My commands 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, 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.”

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 rest on the seventh day,

So the people rested 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 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 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/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 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”;

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

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

36 And the omer is a tenth of the ephah.

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