Exodus 16

1 Then they set out from Elim, and the whole gathering of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which lies between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their going out of the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole gathering of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, 3 and the children of Israel said to them, “If only we had died struck down by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread until we were full! You have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole gathering with hunger.” 4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Look — I am raining bread on you out of heaven. The people are to go out and gather each day’s portion on its day, so that I may test them, whether they will walk by my law or not. 5 And on the sixth day, when they prepare what they have brought in, it will be double what they gather day by day.” 6 And Moses and Aaron said to the whole gathering of the children of Israel, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord — because he has heard your grumbling against God. And we — what are we, that you keep grumbling against us?” 8 And Moses said, “You will know it when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread in the morning until you are full — because the Lord has heard the grumbling you aim at us. And what are we? Your grumbling is not against us; it is against God.” 9 And Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole gathering of the children of Israel: Come near before God, for he has heard your grumbling.” 10 And while Aaron was speaking to the whole gathering of the children of Israel, they turned toward the wilderness — and the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud. 11 And the Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel. Say to them: Toward evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread — and you will know that I am the Lord your God.” 13 And evening came, and quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning, as the dew lifted from around the camp, 14 look — on the face of the wilderness lay something fine, like white coriander seed, like frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” — for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has ordered: Gather of it, each man enough for his own people — two quarts a head, by the number of your souls, each of you gathering for those who share his tent.” [a] 17 And the children of Israel did so, and they gathered — one more, one less. 18 And when they measured it out, the one who had much had nothing over, and the one who had little had no lack; each had gathered what those with him needed. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one keep any of it until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some kept part of it until morning, and it swarmed with worms and stank. And Moses was embittered against them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each what he needed; and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

22 And on the sixth day they gathered double what was needed, four quarts for each one; and all the leaders of the gathering came in and told Moses. 23 And Moses said to them, “This is the word the Lord spoke: Tomorrow is a Sabbath, a holy rest to the Lord. Bake whatever you will bake, and boil whatever you will boil, and everything left over lay up in store until morning.” 24 So they laid part of it up until morning, as Moses had ordered them — and it did not stink, and there was no worm in it. 25 And Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the open country. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but the seventh day is a Sabbath — on it there will be none.” 27 But on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found nothing. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to listen to my commands and my law? 29 Look — the Lord has given you this day, the Sabbath. That is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Stay where you are, each of you in his own house; let no one go out from his place on the seventh day.” 30 And the people rested on the seventh day.

31 And the children of Israel named it manna. It was like white coriander seed, and it tasted like a honey wafer. [b] 32 And Moses said, “This is what the Lord has ordered: Fill a two-quart measure with the manna, to be stored up for your generations, so that they may see the bread you ate in the wilderness when the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt.” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take one golden jar, and put into it a full two quarts of the manna, and set it down before God, to be kept for your generations.” 34 And as the Lord had ordered Moses, Aaron set it down before the witness, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to inhabited land; they ate the manna until they reached the edge of Phoenicia. [c] 36 Now the measure they gathered by held a tenth of the large measure — about two quarts. [d]