Exodus 16

¹ The whole community of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they left Egypt.

² In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

³ The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death."

⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, "I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instruction.

⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days."

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt,

⁷ and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?"

⁸ Moses also said, "You will know it when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD."

⁹ Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the whole community of Israel, 'Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.'"

¹⁰ While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.

¹¹ The LORD 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 have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'"

¹³ That evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew lay around the camp.

¹⁴ When the layer of dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.

¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?"—for they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.

¹⁶ This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Everyone is to gather as much as they need—an omer for each person, according to the number in your tent. Take one for each person you have.'"

¹⁷ The Israelites did so; some gathered much, some little.

¹⁸ And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much had no extra, and the one who gathered little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as they needed.

¹⁹ Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."

²⁰ But some did not listen to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, and it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

²¹ Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.

²³ He said to them, "This is what the LORD has said: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'"

²⁴ So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not smell or have any maggots in it.

²⁵ "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find any of it in the field.

²⁶ Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none."

²⁷ Even so, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.

²⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?

²⁹ Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out."

³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

³² Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.'"

³³ So Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to be kept for the generations to come."

³⁴ As the LORD commanded Moses, Aaron placed the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it would be kept.

³⁵ The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

³⁶ (An omer is a tenth of an ephah.)