The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 16 -

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,(a) which is between Elim and Sinai.

And there in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” 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!”

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.

Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

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,

and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we that you should grumble against us?”

And Moses added, “The LORD 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 the LORD.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”

And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight

(b)

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.’”

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.

When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer

(c)

for each person in your tent.’”

So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less.

When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.(d) Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.

Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”

But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

The Sabbath Observed

(Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:1–11)

On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person (e)—and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.

He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”

So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.

“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field.

For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”

Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?

Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; 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.”

So the people rested on the seventh day.

The Jar of Manna

Now the house of Israel called the bread manna.(f) It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

Moses said, “This is what the LORD 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 Egypt.’”

So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”

And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony,(g) to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)(h)

Footnotes

(a)16:1 The geographical name Sin is related to Sinai and should not be mistaken for the English word sin.

(b)16:12 Hebrew Between the two evenings

(d)16:18 Cited in 2 Corinthians 8:15

(e)16:22 2 omers is approximately 4 dry quarts or 4.4 liters per person.

(f)16:31 Manna sounds like the Hebrew for What is it? (see verse 15).

(g)16:34 The Testimony refers to the stone tablets in the ark of the covenant inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

(h)16:36 An ephah was a dry measure having the capacity of about 20 dry quarts or 22 liters.

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 of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;

and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then the LORD 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.

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.”

Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, you shall know that the LORD has brought you out from the land of Egypt.

In the morning, you shall see the LORD’s glory; because he hears your murmurings against the LORD. Who are we, that you murmur against us?”

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 murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.”

Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come close to the LORD, for he has heard your murmurings.’”

As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the LORD’s glory appeared in the cloud.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“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 that I am the LORD your God.’”

In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp.

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.

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 the LORD has given you to eat.

This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer

(a)

a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent.’”

The children of Israel did so, and some gathered more, some less.

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.

Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.”

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.

They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted.

The Sabbath Observed

(Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:1–11)

On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

He said to them, “This is that which the LORD has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’”

They laid it up until the morning, as Moses ordered, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it.

Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you shall not find it in the field.

Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.”

On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none.

The LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

Behold, 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.”

So the people rested on the seventh day.

The Jar of Manna

The house of Israel called its name “Manna”,(b) and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey.

Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD 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.’”

Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations.”

As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.

Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.(c)

Footnotes

(a)16:16 An omer is about 2.2 liters or about 2.3 quarts

(b)16:31 “Manna” means “What is it?”