Exodus 16
Open in the reader1On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Two-Straits, the whole congregation of Strives-with-God set out from Terebinths and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Terebinths and Sinai.
2And there in the desert the whole congregation of Strives-with-God grumbled against Drawn-Out and Aaron.
3“If only we had died by He-Who-Is’s hand in the land of Two-Straits!” they said. “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!”
4Then He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out, “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.
5Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6So Drawn-Out and Aaron said to all the children of Strives-with-God, “This evening you will know that it was He-Who-Is who brought you out of the land of Two-Straits,
7and in the morning you will see He-Who-Is’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we, that you should grumble against us?”
8And Drawn-Out added, “He-Who-Is will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against He-Who-Is.”
9Then Drawn-Out said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Strives-with-God, ‘Come before He-Who-Is, for He has heard your grumbling.’”
10And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Strives-with-God, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of He-Who-Is appeared.
11Then He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out,
12“I have heard the grumbling of the children of Strives-with-God. 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 He-Who-Is your God.’”
13That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.
15When the children of Strives-with-God saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Drawn-Out told them, “It is the bread that He-Who-Is has given you to eat.
16This is what He-Who-Is has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”
17So the children of Strives-with-God did this. Some gathered more, and some less.
18When 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.
19Then Drawn-Out said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”
20But they did not listen to Drawn-Out; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Drawn-Out was angry with them.
21Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
22On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person —and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Drawn-Out.
23He told them, “This is what He-Who-Is has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a devoted Rest to He-Who-Is. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”
24So they set it aside until morning as Drawn-Out had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.
25“Eat it today,” Drawn-Out said, “because today is a Rest to He-Who-Is. Today you will not find anything in the field.
26For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Rest, it will not be there.”
27Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.
28Then He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?
29Understand that He-Who-Is has given you the Rest; that is why 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.”
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
31Now the house of Strives-with-God called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
32Drawn-Out said, “This is what He-Who-Is has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna 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 Two-Straits.’”
33So Drawn-Out told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before He-Who-Is to be preserved for the generations to come.”
34And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as He-Who-Is had commanded Drawn-Out.
35The children of Strives-with-God ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Humbled.
36(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)