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16 And they went forth from Elim, and all the multitude of the sons of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is betwixt Elim and Sinai, in the fifteenth day of the second month, after that they went out of the land of Egypt. (And they went forth from Elim, and all the multitude of the Israelites came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month, after that they went out of the land of Egypt.)

And all the congregation of the sons of Israel grouched against Moses (And all the Israelites grumbled against Moses), and against Aaron, in the wilderness.

And the sons of Israel said to them, We would that we had been dead by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat on the flesh pots, and ate loaves in plenty; why led ye us into this desert, that ye should slay all the multitude with hunger? (And the Israelites said to them, We wish that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and had plenty of loaves to eat; why did ye lead us into this wilderness, so that ye could kill all the multitude with hunger?)

Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I shall rain to you loaves from heaven; the people go out, that it gather those things that suffice by each day; that I assay the people, whether it go in my law, or not. (And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I shall rain down loaves from the heavens for you; have the people go out, and gather those things that suffice for each day; and I shall test, or shall prove, the people, and see if they go in my law, or not.)

Soothly in the sixth day, make they ready that that they shall bear in, and be it double over that they were wont to gather by each (other) day. (And on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it shall be double over what they were wont to gather on the other days.)

And Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, At eventide ye shall know that the Lord [hath] led you out of the land of Egypt;

and in the morrowtide ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for I heard your grouching against the Lord; soothly what be we, for ye grouch against us? (and in the morning ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for he hath heard your grumbling against him; and who be we, that ye grumble against us?)

And Moses said, The Lord shall give to you at eventide flesh to eat, and loaves in the morrowtide in plenty, for he [hath] heard your grouchings, by which ye grouched against him; for why, what be we? your grouching is not against us, but against the Lord. (And Moses said, The Lord shall give you flesh to eat in the evening, and plenty of loaves in the morning, for he hath heard your grumbling, by which ye grumbled against him; for who be we? yea, your grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord.)

And Moses said to Aaron, Say thou to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, Nigh ye before the Lord, for he [hath] heard your grouching (for he hath heard your grumbling).

10 And when Aaron spake to all the company of the sons of Israel, they beheld to the wilderness, and lo! the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

11 Forsooth the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

12 I heard the grouchings of the sons of Israel (I heard the grumbling of the Israelites); speak thou to them, (and say,) At eventide ye shall eat flesh, and in the morrowtide ye shall be filled with loaves, and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

13 Therefore eventide was made, and curlews went up, and covered the castles; and in the morrowtide dew came before the face of the castles. (And so the evening came, and curlews flew in, and covered the tents; and in the morning dew lay all around the tents.)

14 And when it had covered the earth, a little thing, and as pounded with a pestle, in the likeness of an hoarfrost on the earth, appeared in the wilderness. (And when it had covered all the ground, there appeared in the wilderness a little thing, as if it was pounded with a pestle, and like hoarfrost on the ground.)

15 And when the sons of Israel had seen that, they said together, Man na? which signifieth, What is this? for they wist not what it was (And when the Israelites had seen it, they said to each other, Manna? which meaneth, What is this? for they did not know what it was). To whom Moses said, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

16 This is the word which the Lord commanded, Each man gather thereof as much as it sufficeth to be eaten, omer by each head, by the number of your souls that dwell in the tabernacle, so ye shall take. (This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Each of you gather as much of it as sufficeth to be eaten, yea, an omer for each soul, such ye shall gather by the number of souls who live in your tent.)

17 And the sons of Israel did so, and they gathered (it), one more, and another less;

18 and they meted [it] at the measure of omer; neither he that gathered more had more, neither he that made ready less found less, but all gathered by that that they might eat. (and they measured it at the measure of an omer per person, and he who gathered more did not have too much, nor he who gathered less had not enough, but they all gathered just what they could eat.)

19 And Moses said to them, No man leave thereof into the morrowtide; (And Moses said to them, No one leave any of it until the next morning;)

20 which heard not him, but some of them left thereof till to the morrowtide, and it began to boil with worms, and it was rotten; and Moses was wroth against them. (but some of them did not listen to him, and saved some of it for the next day, and it began to boil with worms, and it was rotten; and Moses was angry at them.)

21 Forsooth all they gathered in the morrowtide as much as sufficed to be eaten; and when the sun was hot, it was molten. (So every morning they all gathered as much as sufficed to be eaten; and when the sun was risen, it melted away.)

22 Soothly in the sixth day they gathered double meats, that is, two omers each man (And on the sixth day they gathered double the amount, that is, two omers for each person). Forsooth all the princes of the multitude came, and told (that) to Moses,

23 which said to them, This it is that the Lord spake, The rest of the sabbath is hallowed to the Lord; do ye whatever thing (that) shall be wrought tomorrow, and seethe ye those things that shall be sodden; soothly whatever thing is residue, or left over, keep ye it till into the morrow. (and he said to them, This is what the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the sabbath, that is holy, or is dedicated, to the Lord; so do ye today whatever needeth to be done, and boil ye those things that need to be boiled; and whatever is left over, keep ye it for tomorrow.)

24 And they did so as Moses commanded (And so they did as Moses commanded), and it was not rotten, neither a worm was found therein.

25 And Moses said, Eat ye that in this day, for it is the sabbath of the Lord, it shall not be found today in the field; (And Moses said, Eat ye it today, for this is the sabbath of the Lord, and no food shall be found in the field today;)

26 gather ye it in six days, forsooth the sabbath of the Lord is in the seventh day, therefore in that day it shall not be found. (gather ye it for six days, but the sabbath of the Lord is on the seventh day, and so on that day it shall not be found.)

27 The seventh day came, and some of the people went out to gather, and they found not. (But the seventh day came, and some people went out to gather food, but they found it not.)

28 Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, How long will ye not keep my commandments, and my law?

29 See ye that the Lord gave to you the sabbath, and for that he hath given to you in the sixth day double meats; each man dwell at himself, no man go out of his place in the seventh day. (See ye that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, and for that he hath given you double the food on the sixth day; so everyone should stay at home, and no one should go out of their place on the seventh day.)

30 And the people kept sabbath in the seventh day. (And so the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day.)

31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof man(na), which was white, as the seed of coriander, and the taste thereof was as of flour (mixed) with honey.

32 Forsooth Moses said, This is the word which the Lord commanded, Fill thou an omer thereof, and be it kept into generations to coming afterward (and let it be kept for the generations to come later), (so) that they know (of) the bread with which I fed you in (the) wilderness, when ye were led out of the land of Egypt.

33 And Moses said to Aaron, Take thou a vessel, and put therein man(na), as much as an omer may take, and put it before the Lord, to be kept into your generations, (And Moses said to Aaron, Take thou a vessel, and put manna in it, an omer of it, and put it before the Lord, to be kept for all generations to come;)

34 as the Lord commanded to Moses; and Aaron put that to be kept in the tabernacle. (so as the Lord commanded to Moses, Aaron put the vessel of manna in the Ark with the stone tablets, to be kept there forever.)

35 Forsooth the sons of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came into the land habitable, that is, able to be inhabited; they were fed with this meat, till they touched the coasts of the land of Canaan. (And the Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to the land where they could live; yea, they were fed with this food, until they reached the land of Canaan.)

36 Forsooth (an) omer is the tenth part of (an) ephah.

Manna and Quail

16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin,(A) which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.(B) In the desert the whole community grumbled(C) against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!(D) There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food(E) we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”(F)

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven(G) for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test(H) them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice(I) as much as they gather on the other days.”

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,(J) and in the morning you will see the glory(K) of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling(L) against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”(M) Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling(N) against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”(O)

Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘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(P) of the Lord appearing in the cloud.(Q)

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling(R) 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 the Lord your God.’”(S)

13 That evening quail(T) came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew(U) around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost(V) on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know(W) what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread(X) the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer[a](Y) for each person you have in your tent.’”

17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.(Z) Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”(AA)

20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.(AB) So Moses was angry(AC) 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(AD) as much—two omers[b] for each person—and the leaders of the community(AE) came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath(AF) 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 stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath,(AG) there will not be any.”

27 Nevertheless, 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[c] refuse to keep my commands(AH) and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind 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.[d](AI) It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna(AJ) in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law,(AK) so that it might be preserved. 35 The Israelites ate manna(AL) forty years,(AM) until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.(AN)

36 (An omer(AO) is one-tenth of an ephah.)(AP)

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 16:16 That is, possibly about 3 pounds or about 1.4 kilograms; also in verses 18, 32, 33 and 36
  2. Exodus 16:22 That is, possibly about 6 pounds or about 2.8 kilograms
  3. Exodus 16:28 The Hebrew is plural.
  4. Exodus 16:31 Manna sounds like the Hebrew for What is it? (see verse 15).