Bread from Heaven
1 And theyjourneyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim andSinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.
2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israelcomplained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
3 And the children of Israel said to them,“Oh, that we had died by the hand of theLordin the land of Egypt,when we sat by the pots of meatandwhen we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then theLordsaid to Moses, “Behold, I will rainbread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I maytest them, whether they willwalk in My law or not.
5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, andit shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel,“At evening you shall know that theLordhas brought you out of the land of Egypt.
7 And in the morning you shall seethe glory of theLord; for Hehears your complaints against theLord. Butwhatarewe, that you complain against us?”
8 Also Moses said, “Thisshallbeseenwhen theLordgives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for theLordhears your complaints which you make against Him. And whatarewe? Your complaintsarenot against us butagainst theLord.”
9 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel,‘Come near before theLord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ”
10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of theLordappeared in the cloud.
11 And theLordspoke to Moses, saying,
12 “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying,‘At twilight you shall eat meat, andin the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that IamtheLordyour God.’ ”
13 So it was thatquails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morningthe dew lay all around the camp.
14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, wasa small roundsubstance,asfine as frost on the ground.
15 So when the children of Israel sawit,they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what itwas.
# And Moses said to them,“Thisisthe bread which theLordhas given you to eat.
16 This is the thing which theLordhas commanded: ‘Let every man gather itaccording to each one’s need, oneomer for each person,accordingtothenumber of persons; let every man take forthosewhoarein his tent.’ ”
17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.
18 So when they measureditby omers,he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.
19 And Moses said, “Let no oneleave any of it till morning.”
20 Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.
21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
22 And so it was, on the sixth day,thatthey gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23 Then he said to them, “ThisiswhattheLordhas said: ‘Tomorrowisa Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to theLord. Bake what you will baketoday,and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ”
24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did notstink, nor were there any worms in it.
25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for todayisa Sabbath to theLord; today you will not find it in the field.
26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
27 Now it happenedthatsomeof the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.
28 And theLordsaid to Moses, “How longdo you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
29 See! For theLordhas given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 And the house of Israel called its name Manna. Anditwaslike white coriander seed, and the taste of itwaslike wafersmadewith honey.
32 Then Moses said, “Thisisthe thing which theLordhas commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
33 And Moses said to Aaron,“Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before theLord, to be kept for your generations.”
34 As theLordcommanded Moses, so Aaron laid it upbefore the Testimony, to be kept.
35 And the children of Israelate mannaforty years,until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
36 Now an omerisone-tenth of an ephah.