Manna and Quail from Heaven
1. On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.
2. There in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
3. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt! There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
4. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.
5. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6. So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “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 Him. For who are we that you should grumble against us?”
8. 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 against Him. Who are we? Your grumbling is not against us, but against the LORD.”
9. Then Moses instructed Aaron, “Say to the entire congregation of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.'”
10. And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.
11. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12. “I have heard the grumbling 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.'”
13. So at evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14. When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground.
15. When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.
16. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'”
17. So the Israelites did this. Some gathered much, and some little.
18. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.
19. Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
20. But they did not listen to Moses; some people kept part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21. Every morning they gathered it, each as much as he needed to eat; and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
The Sabbath Observed
22. And on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers per person. So all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.
23. And he told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.'”
24. So they set it aside until morning, as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or have maggots in it.
25. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find any in the field.
26. For six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
27. Yet on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
28. Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?
29. Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.”
30. So the people rested on the seventh day.
The Jar of Manna
31. And the house of Israel called the bread manna. 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 that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'”
33. So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”
34. Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, Aaron placed the jar of manna before the Testimony, to be preserved.
35. And the Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
36. (An omer is a tenth of an ephah.)