Exodus 16

CHAPTER 16

1And they went forth from Elim, and all the multitude of the sons of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is betwixt Elim and Sinai, in the fifteenth day of the second month, after that they went out of the land of Egypt.

2And all the congregation of the sons of Israel grutched against Moses, and against Aaron, in the wilderness.

3And the sons of Israel said to them, We would that we had been dead by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat on the flesh pots, and ate loaves in plenty; why led ye us into this desert, that ye should slay all the multitude with hunger?

4Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I shall rain to you loaves from heaven; the people go out, that it gather those things that suffice by each day; that I assay the people, whether it go in my law, or not.

5Soothly in the sixth day, make they ready that that they shall bear in, and be it double over that they were wont to gather by each day.

6And Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, At eventide ye shall know that the Lord [hath] led you out of the land of Egypt;

7and in the morrowtide ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for I heard your grutching against the Lord; soothly what be we, for ye grutch against us?

8And Moses said, The Lord shall give to you at eventide flesh to eat, and loaves in the morrowtide in plenty, for he [hath] heard your grutchings, by which ye grutched against him; for why, what be we? your grutching is not against us, but against the Lord.

9And Moses said to Aaron, Say thou to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, Nigh ye before the Lord, for he [hath] heard your grutching.

10And when Aaron spake to all the company of the sons of Israel, they beheld to the wilderness, and lo! the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

11Forsooth the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

12I heard the grutchings of the sons of Israel; speak thou to them, At eventide ye shall eat flesh, and in the morrowtide ye shall be filled with loaves, and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

13Therefore eventide was made, and curlews went up, and covered the castles [or the tents]; and in the morrowtide dew came before the face of the castles [or the tents].

14And when it had covered the earth, a little thing, and as pounded with a pestle, in the likeness of an hoarfrost on the earth, appeared in the wilderness.

15And when the sons of Israel had seen that, they said together, Man na? which signifieth, What is this? for they wist not what it was. To whom Moses said, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

16This is the word which the Lord commanded, Each man gather thereof as much as it sufficeth to be eaten, omer by each head, by the number of your souls that dwell in the tabernacle, so ye shall take.

17And the sons of Israel did so, and they gathered, one more, and another less;

18and they meted [or measured it] at the measure of omer; neither he that gathered more had more, neither he that made ready less found less, but all gathered by that that they might eat.

19And Moses said to them, No man leave thereof into the morrowtide;

20which heard not him, but some of them left thereof till to the morrow-tide, and it began to boil with worms, and it was rotten; and Moses was wroth against them.

21Forsooth all they gathered in the morrowtide as much as sufficed to be eaten; and when the sun was hot, it was molten or melted.

22Soothly in the sixth day they gathered double meats, that is, two omers each man. Forsooth all the princes of the multitude came, and told to Moses,

23which said to them, This it is that the Lord spake, The rest of the sabbath is hallowed to the Lord; do ye what-ever thing shall be wrought tomorrow, and seethe ye those things that shall be sodden; soothly whatever thing is residue, or left over, keep ye it till into the morrow.

24And they did so as Moses commanded, and it was not rotten, neither a worm was found therein.

25And Moses said, Eat ye that in this day, for it is the sabbath of the Lord, it shall not be found today in the field;

26gather ye it in six days, forsooth the sabbath of the Lord is in the seventh day, therefore in that day it shall not be found.

27The seventh day came, and some of the people went out to gather, and they found not.

28Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, How long will ye not keep my commandments, and my law?

29See ye that the Lord gave to you the sabbath, and for that he hath given to you in the sixth day double meats; each man dwell at himself, no man go out of his place in the seventh day.

30And the people kept sabbath in the seventh day.

31And the house of Israel called the name thereof manna, which was white, as the seed of coriander, and the taste thereof was as of flour with honey.

32Forsooth Moses said, This is the word which the Lord commanded, Fill thou an omer thereof, and be it kept into generations to coming [or to come] afterward, that they know the bread with which I fed you in wilder-ness, when ye were led out of the land of Egypt.

33And Moses said to Aaron, Take thou a vessel, and put therein manna, as much as an omer may take, and put it before the Lord, to be kept into your generations,

34as the Lord commanded to Moses; and Aaron put that to be kept in the tabernacle.

35Forsooth the sons of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came into the land habitable, that is, able to be inhabited; they were fed with this meat, till they touched the coasts of the land of Canaan.

36Forsooth omer is the tenth part of ephah.

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Exodus 16: WBMS

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Exodus 16

The Lord Sends Food from Heaven

1On the fifteenth day of the second month after the Israelites had escaped from Egypt, they left Elim and started through the western edge of the Sinai Desert#16.1 the western edge of the Sinai Desert: Hebrew “the Sin Desert.” in the direction of Mount Sinai. 2There in the desert they started complaining to Moses and Aaron, 3“We wish the Lord had killed us in Egypt. When we lived there, we could at least sit down and eat all the bread and meat we wanted. But you have brought us out here into this desert, where we are going to starve.”

4 # Ws 16.20-29; Jn 6.31. The Lord said to Moses, “I will send bread#16.4 bread: This was something like a thin wafer, and it was called “manna,” which in Hebrew means, “What is it?” down from heaven like rain. Tell the people to go out each day and gather only enough for that day. That's how I will see if they obey me. 5But on the sixth day of each week they must gather and cook twice as much.”

6Moses and Aaron told the people, “This evening you will know that the Lord was the one who rescued you from Egypt. 7And in the morning you will see his glorious power, because he has heard your complaints against him. Why should you grumble to us? Who are we?”

8Then Moses continued, “You will know it is the Lord when he gives you meat each evening and more than enough bread each morning. He is really the one you are complaining about, not us—we are nobodies—but the Lord has heard your complaints.”

9Moses turned to Aaron and said, “Bring the people together, because the Lord has heard their complaints.”

10Aaron was speaking to them, when everyone looked out toward the desert and saw the bright glory of the Lord in a cloud. 11The Lord said to Moses, 12“I have heard my people complain. Now tell them that each evening they will have meat and each morning they will have more than enough bread. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

13That evening a lot of quails came and landed everywhere in the camp, and the next morning dew covered the ground. 14After the dew had gone, the desert was covered with thin flakes that looked like frost. 15#1 Co 10.3. The people had never seen anything like this, and they started asking each other, “What is it?”#16.15 What is it: See the note at 16.4.

Moses answered, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16And he orders you to gather about two liters for each person in your family—that should be more than enough.”

17They did as they were told. Some gathered more and some gathered less. 18#2 Co 8.15. Everyone had exactly what they needed, just the right amount.

19Moses told them not to keep any overnight. 20Some of them disobeyed, but the next morning what they kept was stinking and full of worms, and Moses was angry.

21Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and in the heat of the day the rest melted. 22However, on the sixth day of the week, everyone gathered enough to have four liters, instead of two. When the leaders reported this to Moses, 23#Ex 20.8-11. he told them that the Lord had said, “Tomorrow is the Sabbath, a sacred day of rest in honor of me. So gather all you want to bake or boil, and make sure you save enough for tomorrow.”

24The people obeyed, and the next morning the food smelled fine and had no worms. 25“You may eat the food,” Moses said. “Today is the Sabbath in honor of the Lord, and there won't be any of this food on the ground today. 26You will find it there for the first six days of the week, but not on the Sabbath.”

27A few of the Israelites did go out to look for some, but there was none. 28Then the Lord said, “Moses, how long will you people keep disobeying my laws and teachings? 29Remember that I was the one who gave you the Sabbath. That's why on the sixth day I provide enough bread for two days. Everyone is to stay home and rest on the Sabbath.” 30And so they rested on the Sabbath.

31 # Nu 11.7-9. The Israelites called the bread manna.#16.31 manna: See the note at 16.4. It was white like coriander seed and delicious as wafers made with honey. 32Moses told the people that the Lord had said, “Store up two liters of this manna, because I want future generations to see the food I gave you during the time you were in the desert after I rescued you from Egypt.”

33 # He 9.4. Then Moses told Aaron, “Put some manna in a jar and store it in the place of worship for future generations to see.”

34Aaron followed the Lord's instructions and put the manna in front of the sacred chest for safekeeping. 35-36#Js 5.11,12. The Israelites ate manna for 40 years, before they came to the border of Canaan that was a settled land.#16.35,36 land: The Hebrew text adds, “An omer is one tenth of an ephah.” In the CEV “omer” is usually translated “two liters.”

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