The People Demand Food

16 The whole ·Israelite community [^Lcongregation/assembly of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel] left Elim and came to the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Sin, which was between Elim and Sinai; they arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt. ² Then the whole ·Israelite community [congregation; ^Lassembly of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel] ·grumbled [complained] to Moses and Aaron in the ·desert [wilderness]. ³ ·They [^LThe sons/^Tchildren of Israel] said to them, “It would have been better if the [^Lhand of the] Lord had killed us in the land of Egypt. There we ·had meat to eat and [^Lsat by the fleshpots and ate] all the ·food [bread] we wanted. But you have brought us into this ·desert [wilderness] to starve ·us [^Lall this assembly/crowd] to death.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will cause ·food [bread] to fall like rain from ·the sky [heaven] for all of you. Every day the people must go out and gather what they need for that day. I want to ·see if the people will do what I teach them [^Ltest them to see if they will walk in my law/instruction or not]. ⁵ On the sixth day of each week, they are to gather twice as much as they gather on other days. Then they are to prepare it.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel]: “This evening you will know that the Lord is the one who brought you out of Egypt. ⁷ Tomorrow morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard you ·grumble [complain] against him. ·We are nothing, so you are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord [^LFor what are we that you grumble/complain against us?].” ⁸ And Moses said, “Each evening the Lord will give you meat to eat, and every morning he will give you all the bread you want, because he has heard you ·grumble [complain] against him. You are not grumbling against ·Aaron and me, because we are nothing; you are grumbling [^Lus, but] against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Speak to the whole ·community of the Israelites [^Lcongregation/assembly of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel], and say to them, ‘·Meet together in the presence of [^LDraw near] the Lord, because he has heard your ·grumblings [complaints].’”

¹⁰ While Aaron was speaking to the whole ·community of the Israelites [^Lcongregation/assembly of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel], they ·looked [^Lturned] toward the ·desert [wilderness]. There the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the ·grumblings [complaints] of the ·people [sons/^Tchildren] of Israel. So tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and every morning you will eat all the bread you want. Then you will know I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning [^La layer of] dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ When the [^Llayer of] dew ·was gone [evaporated; ^Lwent up], thin flakes like frost were on the ·desert [wilderness] ground. ¹⁵ When the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] saw it, they asked each other, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was.

So Moses told them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ The Lord has commanded, ‘Each one of you must gather what he needs, about ·two quarts [^Lan omer] for every person in your ·family [^Lown tent].’”

¹⁷ So the ·people [^Lsons; children] of Israel did this; some people gathered much, and some gathered little. ¹⁸ Then they measured it [^Lby omer]. The person who gathered more did not have too much, nor did the person who gathered less have too little. Each person gathered just as much as he needed.

¹⁹ Moses said to them, “Don’t ·keep any of it to eat [^Lleave any of it until] the next day.” ²⁰ But some of the people did not listen to Moses and kept part of it to eat the next morning. It became full of worms and ·began to stink [spoiled], so Moses was angry with those people.

²¹ Every morning each person gathered as much food as he needed, but when the sun became hot, it melted away.

²² On the sixth day the people gathered twice as much food—·four quarts [^Ltwo omers] for every person. When all the leaders of the ·community [congregation; assembly] came and told this to Moses, ²³ he said to them, “This is what the Lord ·commanded [^Lsaid], because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Lord’s holy day of rest. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil today. Save the rest of the food until tomorrow morning.”

²⁴ So the people saved it until the next morning, as Moses had commanded, and none of it ·began to stink [spoiled] or have worms in it. ²⁵ Moses told the people, “Eat ·the food you gathered yesterday [^Lit today]. Today is a Sabbath, ·the Lord’s day of rest [^L…of the Lord]; you will not find any out in the field today. ²⁶ You should gather ·the food [^Lit] for six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day. On that day ·there will not be any food on the ground [^Lit will not be on it].”

²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they couldn’t find any. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you people refuse to ·obey [keep] my commands and ·teachings [instructions; laws]? ²⁹ Look, the Lord has ·made the Sabbath a day of rest for you [^Lgiven to you the Sabbath]. So on the sixth day he will give you enough food for two days, but on the seventh day each of you must stay where you are. Do not go anywhere.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel called the food manna [^Cbased on the Hebrew phrase, “What is it?”; 16:15]. It was like ·small white seeds [^Lcoriander seeds, white] and tasted like wafers made with honey.

³² Then Moses said, “·The Lord said [^LThis is the word/thing the Lord has commanded], ‘·Save [Keep; ^LFill] ·two quarts [^Lan omer] of this food ·for your descendants [^Lthroughout your generations]. Then they can see the food I gave you to eat in the ·desert [wilderness] when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

³³ Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with ·two quarts [^Lan omer] of manna. Then place it before the Lord, and ·save [keep] it ·for your descendants [^Lthroughout your generations].” ³⁴ So Aaron did what the Lord had commanded Moses. He put ·the jar of manna [^Lit] in front of the ·Agreement [^LTestimony; ^Cthe Ark, named for the Ten Commandments placed in it] to keep it safe. ³⁵ The ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] ate manna for forty years, until they came to the land where they settled—the edge of the land of Canaan [Josh. 5:12]. ³⁶ The measure they used for the manna was ·two quarts [^Lan omer], or one-tenth of an ephah [^Can ephah is about 20 quarts].