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There in the desert they started complaining to Moses and Aaron, “We wish the Lord had killed us in Egypt. When we lived there, we could at least sit down and eat all the bread and meat we wanted. But you have brought us out here into this desert, where we are going to starve.”

(A) The Lord said to Moses, “I will send bread[a] down from heaven like rain. Tell the people to go out each day and gather only enough for that day. That's how I will see if they obey me. But on the sixth day of each week they must gather and cook twice as much.”

Moses and Aaron told the people, “This evening you will know that the Lord was the one who rescued you from Egypt. And in the morning you will see his glorious power, because he has heard your complaints against him. Why should you grumble to us? Who are we?”

Then Moses continued, “You will know it is the Lord when he gives you meat each evening and more than enough bread each morning. He is really the one you are complaining about, not us—we are nobodies—but the Lord has heard your complaints.”

Moses turned to Aaron and said, “Bring the people together, because the Lord has heard their complaints.”

10 Aaron was speaking to them, when everyone looked out toward the desert and saw the bright glory of the Lord in a cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard my people complain. Now tell them that each evening they will have meat and each morning they will have more than enough bread. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

13 That evening a lot of quails came and landed everywhere in the camp, and the next morning dew covered the ground. 14 After the dew had gone, the desert was covered with thin flakes that looked like frost. 15 (B) The people had never seen anything like this, and they started asking each other, “What is it?”[b]

Moses answered, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

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Footnotes

  1. 16.4 bread: This was something like a thin wafer, and it was called “manna,” which in Hebrew means, “What is it?”
  2. 16.15 What is it: See the note at 16.4.

In the desert the whole community grumbled(A) against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!(B) There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food(C) we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”(D)

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven(E) for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test(F) 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(G) 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,(H) and in the morning you will see the glory(I) of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling(J) against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”(K) 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(L) against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”(M)

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(N) of the Lord appearing in the cloud.(O)

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling(P) 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.’”(Q)

13 That evening quail(R) came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew(S) around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost(T) 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(U) what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread(V) the Lord has given you to eat.

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