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The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Exodus 16
1 They took their journey from Elim, and
all the congregation of the children of Israel
came to the wilderness of Sin, which
is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth
day ofthe second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
2 The whole congregation ofthe children
of Israel murmured against Moses and
against Aaron in the wilderness;
3 and the children of Israel said to them,
“We wish that we had died by Yahweh’s
hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat
by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of
bread,for youhavebroughtus outinto this
wilderness to killthis whole assembly with
hunger.”
4 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, 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 children of Israel,
“At evening, you shall know
that Yahweh has brought you out from the
land of Egypt.
7 In the morning, you shall see Yahweh’s
glory; because he hears your murmurings
against Yahweh. Who are we, that you
murmur against us?”
8 Moses said, “Now Yahweh will give you
meat to eat in the evening, and in the
morning bread to satisfy you, because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you
murmur against him. And who are we?
Your murmurings are not against us, but
against Yahweh.”
9 Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come
close to Yahweh, for he has heard your
murmurings.’ ”
10 As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked
toward the wilderness, and behold, Yahweh’s glory appeared in the cloud.
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
12 “I have heard the murmurings of the
children of Israel. Speak to them, saying,
‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the
morning you shall be filled with bread.
Then you will know thatI am Yahweh your
God.’ ”
13 In the evening, quail came up and
covered the camp; and in the morning the
dew lay around the camp.
14 When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on
the surface of the wilderness was
a small round thing, small as the frost on
the ground.
15 When the children of Israel saw it,
they said to one another, “What is it?” For
they didn’t know what it was. Moses said
to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has
given you to eat.
16 This is the thing which Yahweh has
commanded: ‘Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer† a head,
according to the number of your persons,
you shall take it, every man for those who
are in his tent.’ ”
17 The children of Israel did so, and some
gathered more, some less.
18 When they measured it with an omer,
he who gathered much had nothing over,
and he who gathered little had no lack.
They each gathered according to his eating.
19 Moses said to them, “Let no one leave
of it until the morning.”
20 Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to
Moses, but some of them left of it until the
morning, so it bred worms and became
foul; and Moses was angry with them.
21 They gathered it morning by morning,
everyone according to his eating. When
the sun grew hot, it melted.
22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice
as much bread, two omers for each one;
and allthe rulers ofthe congregation came
and told Moses.
23 He said to them, “This is that which
Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a
solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh.
Bake that which you wantto bake, and boil
that which you want to boil; and all that
remains over lay up for yourselves to be
kept until the morning.’ ”
24 They laid it up until the morning, as
Moses ordered, and it didn’t become foul,
and there were no worms in it.
25 Moses said, “Eatthattoday,for today is
a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not
find it in the field.
26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the
seventh day is the Sabbath. In itthere shall
be none.”
27 On the seventh day, some ofthe people
went out to gather, and they found none.
28 Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do
yourefuse to keepmy commandments and
my laws?
29 Behold, because Yahweh 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 house of Israel called its name
“Manna”,‡ and it was like coriander seed,
white; and its taste was like wafers with
honey.
32 Moses said, “This is the thing which
Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-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 an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it
up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout
your generations.”
34 As Yahweh commanded Moses, so
Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be
kept.
35 The children of Israel ate the manna
forty years, untilthey came to aninhabited
land. They ate the manna until they came
to the borders of the land of Canaan.
36 Now an omer is one tenth of an
ephah.§
† 16:16 An omer is about 2.2 liters or about 2.3 quarts ‡ 16:31 “Manna” means “What is it?” § 16:36 1 ephah is
about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel
Word English Bible
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