Chapter 16
1On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.
2[And there] in the desert, [they all] grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
3“If only we had died by AO’s hand in the land of Egypt!” [they said]. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
4Then AO said to Moses, “Behold I will rain down for you bread from heaven. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way, I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.
5Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was AO who brought you out of the land of Egypt
7and in the morning you will see AO’s glory because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we that you should grumble against us?”
8And Moses added, “AO will give you this evening meat to eat and bread in the morning to fill you for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against AO.”
9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before AO for He has heard your grumbling.’”
10And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert and there the glory of AO appeared in a cloud.
11Then AO said to Moses,
12“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat and in the morning you {will} be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am AO your God!’”
13That evening quail came and covered the camp and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14When the layer of dew had evaporated, there on the desert floor were thin flakes as fine as frost on the ground.
15When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that AO has given you to eat.
16This is what AO has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”
17So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more and some less.
18When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.
19Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”
20But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
22On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person—and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.
23He told them, “This is what AO has said: ‘Tomorrow [is to be] a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to AO. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”
24So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded and it did not smell [or] contain any maggots.
25“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to AO. Today you will not find anything in the field.
26For six days you may gather but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be [there].”
27Yet on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather but they did not find anything.
28Then AO said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?
29Understand that AO has given you the Sabbath, that is why He will give you bread for two days on the sixth day. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is, no one may leave his place.”
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
31Now the house of Israel called [the bread] manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
32Moses said, “This is what AO has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of [manna] for the generations to come so that they may see the bread I fed to you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
33So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before AO to be preserved for the generations to come.”
34And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony to be preserved just as AO had commanded Moses.
35The Israelites ate manna forty years until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
36(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah).