Exodus 16 | King James Version

King James Version

1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto 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. 2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. 6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: 7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? 8 And Moses said, This shall be , when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD. 9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings. 10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God. 13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it , they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was . And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. 19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. 21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. 22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man : and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day , and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. 24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. 25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field. 26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. 27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. 33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

New International Reader’s Version

The Lord gives Israel food every day

1 The whole community of Israel started out from Elim. They came to the Desert of Sin. It was between Elim and Sinai. They arrived there on the 15th day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community told Moses and Aaron they weren’t happy with them. 3 The Israelites said to them, ‘We wish the LORD had put us to death in Egypt. There we sat around pots of meat. We ate all the food we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert. You must want this entire community to die of hunger.’ 4 Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people must go out each day. Let them gather enough bread for that day. Here is how I will test them. I will see if they will follow my directions. 5 On the sixth day they must prepare what they bring in. On that day they must gather twice as much as on the other days.’ 6 So Moses and Aaron spoke to all the people of Israel. They said, ‘In the evening you will know that the LORD brought you out of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD. He has heard you say you aren’t happy with him. Who are we? Why are you telling us you aren’t happy with us?’ 8 Moses also said, ‘You will know that the LORD has heard you speak against him. He will give you meat to eat in the evening. He’ll give you all the bread you want in the morning. But who are we? You aren’t speaking against us. You are speaking against the LORD.’ 9 Then Moses told Aaron, ‘Talk to the whole community of Israel. Say to them, “Come to the LORD. He has heard you speak against him.” ’ 10 While Aaron was talking to the whole community of Israel, they looked towards the desert. There was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud! 11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 ‘I have heard the people of Israel talking about how unhappy they are. Tell them, “When the sun goes down, you will eat meat. In the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.” ’ 13 That evening quail came and covered the camp. In the morning the ground around the camp was covered with dew. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes appeared on the desert floor. They looked like frost on the ground. 15 The people of Israel saw the flakes. They asked each other, ‘What’s that?’ They didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It’s the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 Here is what the LORD has commanded. He has said, “Everyone should gather as much as they need. Take 1.5 kilograms for each person who lives in your tent.” ’ 17 The people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, and some gathered a little. 18 When they measured it out, the one who gathered a lot didn’t have too much. And the one who gathered a little had enough. Everyone gathered only what they needed. 19 Then Moses said to them, ‘Don’t keep any of it until morning.’ 20 Some of them didn’t pay any attention to Moses. They kept part of it until morning. But it was full of maggots and began to stink. So Moses became angry with them. 21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed. But by the hottest time of the day, the thin flakes had melted away. 22 On the sixth day, the people gathered twice as much. It amounted to 3 kilograms for each person. The leaders of the community came and reported that to Moses. 23 He said to them, ‘Here is what the LORD commanded. He said, “Tomorrow will be a day of rest. It will be a holy Sabbath day. It will be set apart for the LORD. So bake what you want to bake. Boil what you want to boil. Save what is left. Keep it until morning.” ’ 24 So they saved it until morning, just as Moses commanded. It didn’t stink or get maggots in it. 25 ‘Eat it today,’ Moses said. ‘Today is a Sabbath day to honour the LORD. You won’t find any flakes on the ground today. 26 Gather them for six days. But on the seventh day there won’t be any. It’s the Sabbath day.’ 27 In spite of what Moses said, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather the flakes. But they didn’t find any. 28 Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said, ‘How long will all of you refuse to obey my commands and my teachings? 29 Keep in mind that I have given you the Sabbath day. That is why on the sixth day I give you bread for two days. Everyone must stay where they are on the seventh day. No one can go out.’ 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seeds. It tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, ‘Here is what the LORD has commanded. He has said, “Get 1.5 kilograms of manna. Keep it for all time to come. Then those who live after you will see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert. I gave it to you when I brought you out of Egypt.” ’ 33 So Moses said to Aaron, ‘Get a jar. Put 1.5 kilograms of manna in it. Then place it in front of the LORD. Keep it there for all time to come.’ 34 Aaron did exactly as the LORD had commanded Moses. He put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law. He put it there so it would be kept for all time to come. 35 The Israelites ate manna for 40 years. They ate it until they came to a land where people were living. They ate it until they reached the border of Canaan. 36 The jar had 1.5 kilograms of manna in it.