Manna and Quail from Heaven
1 They took their journey from Elim, and the entire congregation of the Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites grumbled against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the Israelites said to them, “We wish that we had died at the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6 Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “At evening, you shall know that the Lord has brought you out from the land of Egypt. 7 In the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he hears your grumbling against the Lord. Who are we, that you grumble against us?”
8 Moses said, “Now the Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning, bread to satisfy you, because the Lord hears your grumbling against him. And who are we? Your grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord.”
9 Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the entire congregation of the Israelites, ‘Come close to the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’ ”
10 As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
13 In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was around the camp. 14 When the dew had evaporated, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “It is manna,” for they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Every man gather it according to his eating habits. Take two quarts per person, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’ ”
17 The Israelites did so, and some gathered more, some less. 18 When they measured it in two quart containers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They each gathered according to his eating habits.
19 Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it until the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some of them left some of it until the morning, so it bred worms and stunk, and Moses was angry with them.
21 They gathered it each morning, everyone according to his eating habits. When the sun grew hot, it melted.
The Sabbath Observed
22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, four quarts for each person, and all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that remains left over, lay aside for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’ ”
24 They laid it aside until the morning as Moses ordered, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you shall not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, on this day there shall be none.”
27 On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my laws? 29 Because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The Israelites called it “Manna”, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Let a quart full of it be kept throughout 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 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put a quart full of manna in it and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35 The Israelites ate the manna for 40 years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 Now two quarts are one tenth of an ephah.