Manna and Quail

¹The entire community of Israel left Elim and arrived at the wilderness of Sin, which lies between Elim and Sinai. This was on the 15th day of the 2nd month after they had left Egypt. ²There in the wilderness, the whole community began to complain against Moses and Aaron. ³The children of Israel said to them, "We wish to God that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate bread to our fill; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." ⁴Then the LORD told Moses, "I will rain bread from heaven for you. Each day, the people must go out and gather a specific amount. I will use this to test them, to see whether they will walk in my law or not." ⁵On the 6th day, when they prepare what they've brought in, it will turn out to be twice as much as they gather on any other day." ⁶So Moses and Aaron told all the Israelites, "This evening you will know for certain that the LORD is the one who brought you out of Egypt. ⁷In the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your complaints against him. Who are we that you should complain against us?" ⁸Moses continued, "The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard how you've been complaining against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren't really against us — they're against the LORD." ⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the entire Israelite community, 'Come and stand before the LORD, because he has heard your complaints.'" ¹⁰As Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they turned and looked toward the wilderness, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud. ¹¹The LORD spoke to Moses and said, ¹²"I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them this: 'At evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you can eat. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'" ¹³That evening, quail flew in and covered the entire camp. In the morning, dew blanketed the ground all around the camp. ¹⁴When the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the wilderness lay a small round thing, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, 'It is manna,' because they did not know what it was. Moses told them, 'This is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.' ¹⁶Here is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each person should gather as much as they need — 1 omer per person. Everyone collect enough for the people in your tent.'" ¹⁷The Israelites did as they were told. Some gathered more, some gathered less. ¹⁸But when they measured it out by the omer, those who had gathered a lot didn't have too much, and those who had gathered only a little didn't come up short. Everyone ended up with exactly what they needed. ¹⁹Moses told them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." ²⁰But some of them didn't listen to Moses and saved part of it overnight. By morning it was crawling with worms and smelled terrible. Moses was angry with them. ²¹So each morning everyone gathered what they needed. Once the sun grew hot, whatever was left on the ground melted away. ²²On the 6th day, the people gathered twice as much — 2 omers per person. The leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. ²³He told them, "This is what the LORD has said: 'Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil today. Then set aside whatever is left over and keep it until morning.'" ²⁴So they saved it until morning, just as Moses instructed. This time it didn't smell bad, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵Moses said, "Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You won't find any on the ground today. ²⁶You are to gather it for 6 days, but the 7th day is the Sabbath — there won't be any." ²⁷On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, but they found nothing. ²⁸The LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?" ²⁹Understand this: the LORD has given you the Sabbath. That's why he provides you with 2 days' worth of bread on the 6th day. Everyone must stay where they are — no one should leave their place on the 7th day." ³⁰So the people rested on the 7th day. ³¹The Israelites called the bread "manna." It looked like white coriander seeds and tasted like honey wafers. ³²Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Keep 1 omer of manna for future generations, so your descendants can see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.'" ³³Moses told Aaron, "Take a jar and put 1 omer of manna in it. Place it before the LORD to be preserved for future generations." ³⁴Just as the LORD commanded Moses, Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony to be preserved. ³⁵The Israelites ate manna for 40 years — all the way until they reached an inhabited land. They ate manna until they arrived at the border of Canaan. ³⁶An omer is 1/10 of an ephah.