1 Afterward all the Congregation of the children of Israel departed from Elim, and came to the wildernes of Sin, (which is betweene Elim and Sinai) the fiftenth day of the second moneth after their departing out of ye land of Egypt. 2 And the whole Congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wildernesse. 3 For the children of Israel sayde to them, Oh that we had dyed by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when wee sate by the flesh pots, when wee ate bread our bellies full: for yee haue brought vs out into this wildernesse, to kill this whole company with famine. 4 Then sayd the Lord vnto Moses, Behold, I wil cause bread to rayne from heauen to you, and the people shall goe out, and gather that that is sufficient for euery day, that I may proue them, whether they wil walke in my Law or no. 5 But the sixt daye they shall prepare that, which they shall bring home, and it shalbe twise as much as they gather dayly. 6 Then Moses and Aaron sayde vnto all the children of Israel, At euen ye shall know, that the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt: 7 And in the morning ye shall see the glorie of the Lord: for he hath heard your grudgings against the Lord: and what are we that ye haue murmured against vs? 8 Againe Moses sayd, At euen shall the Lord giue you flesh to eate, and in the morning your fil of bread: for the Lord hath heard your murmurings, which ye murmure against him: for what are we? your murmurings are not against vs, but against the Lord. 9 And Moses sayd to Aaron, Say vnto all the Congregation of the children of Israel, Draw neere before the Lord: for he hath heard your murmurings. 10 Now as Aaron spake vnto the whole Congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wildernesse, and beholde, the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloude. 11 (For the Lord had spoken vnto Moses, saying, 12 I haue heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: tell them therefore, and say, At euen ye shall eate flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread, and ye shall knowe that I am the Lord your God) 13 And so at euen the quailes came and couered the campe: and in the morning the dewe lay round about the hoste. 14 And when the dewe that was fallen was ascended, beholde, a small round thing was vpon the face of the wildernes, small as the hoare frost on the earth. 15 And when the children of Israel sawe it, they sayde one to another, It is MAN, for they wist not what it was. And Moses sayd vnto them, This is the breade which the Lord hath giuen you to eate. 16 This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded: gather of it euery man according to his eating an Omer for a man according to the number of your persons: euery man shall take for them which are in his tent. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some lesse. 18 And when they did measure it with an Omer, hee that had gathered much, had nothing ouer, and he that had gathered litle, had no lacke: so euery man gathered according to his eating. 19 Moses then said vnto them, Let no man reserue thereof till morning. 20 Notwithstanding they obeyed not Moses: but some of them reserued of it till morning, and it was full of wormes, and stanke: therefore Moses was angrie with them. 21 And they gathered it euery morning, euery man according to his eating: for when the heate of the sunne came, it was melted. 22 And the sixt day they gathered twise so much bread, two Omers for one man: then all the rulers of the Congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he answered them, This is that, which the Lord hath sayde, To morowe is the rest of the holy Sabbath vnto the Lord: bake that to day which ye wil bake, and seethe that which ye wil seethe, and all that remaineth, lay it vp to be kept till the morning for you. 24 And they laied it vp till the morning, as Moses bade, and it stanke not, neyther was there any worme therein. 25 Then Moses sayde, Eate that to day: for to day is the Sabbath vnto the Lord: to day ye shall not finde it in the fielde. 26 Sixe dayes shall yee gather it, but in the seuenth day is the Sabbath: in it there shalbe none. 27 Notwithstanding, there went out some of the people in ye seuenth day for to gather, and they found none. 28 And the Lord sayde vnto Moses, Howe long refuse yee to keepe my commandements, and my lawes? 29 Beholde, howe the Lord hath giuen you the Sabbath: therefore he giueth you the sixt day bread for two dayes: tary therefore euery man in his place: let no man goe out of his place the seuenth day. 30 So the people rested the seuenth day. 31 And the house of Israel called the name of it, MAN. and it was like to coriander seede, but white: and the taste of it was like vnto wafers made with hony. 32 And Moses said, This is that which the Lord hath commanded, Fill an Omer of it, to keepe it for your posteritie: that they may see the bread wherewith I haue fed you in wildernesse, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt. 33 Moses also said to Aaron, Take a pot and put an Omer full of MAN therein, and set it before the Lord to be kept for your posteritie. 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laied it vp before the Testimonie to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel did eate MAN fourtie yeres, vntill they came vnto a land inhabited: they did eate MAN vntill they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 The Omer is the tenth part of the Ephah.
The Manna and the Quails
1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. 2 There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron 3 and said to them, “We wish that the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death.”
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as usual and prepare it.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the dazzling light of the Lord's presence. He has heard your complaints against him—yes, against him, because we are only carrying out his instructions.” 8 Then Moses said, “It is the Lord who will give you meat to eat in the evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, because he has heard how much you have complained against him. When you complain against us, you are really complaining against the Lord.”
9 Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community to come and stand before the Lord, because he has heard their complaints.” 10 As Aaron spoke to the whole community, they turned toward the desert, and suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord appeared in a cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them that at twilight they will have meat to eat, and in the morning they will have all the bread they want. Then they will know that I, the Lord, am their God.”
13 In the evening a large flock of quails flew in, enough to cover the camp, and in the morning there was dew all around the camp. 14 When the dew evaporated, there was something thin and flaky on the surface of the desert. It was as delicate as frost. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they didn't know what it was and asked each other, “What is it?”
Moses said to them, “This is the food that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 The Lord has commanded that each of you is to gather as much of it as he needs, two quarts for each member of his household.”
17 The Israelites did this, some gathering more, others less. 18 When they measured it, those who gathered much did not have too much, and those who gathered less did not have too little. Each had gathered just what he needed. 19 Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it for tomorrow.” 20 But some of them did not listen to Moses and saved part of it. The next morning it was full of worms and smelled rotten, and Moses was angry with them. 21 Every morning each one gathered as much as he needed; and when the sun grew hot, what was left on the ground melted.
22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts for each person. All the leaders of the community came and told Moses about it, 23 and he said to them, “The Lord has commanded that tomorrow is a holy day of rest, dedicated to him. Bake today what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Whatever is left should be put aside and kept for tomorrow.” 24 As Moses had commanded, they kept what was left until the next day; it did not spoil or get worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat this today, because today is the Sabbath, a day of rest dedicated to the Lord, and you will not find any food outside the camp. 26 You must gather food for six days, but on the seventh day, the day of rest, there will be none.”
27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they did not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How much longer will you people refuse to obey my commands? 29 Remember that I, the Lord, have given you a day of rest, and that is why on the sixth day I will always give you enough food for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day and not leave his home.” 30 So the people did no work on the seventh day.
31 The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like a small white seed, and tasted like thin cakes made with honey. 32 Moses said, “The Lord has commanded us to save some manna, to be kept for our descendants, so that they can see the food which he gave us to eat in the desert when he brought us out of Egypt.” 33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, put two quarts of manna in it, and place it in the Lord's presence to be kept for our descendants.” 34 As the Lord had commanded Moses, Aaron put it in front of the Covenant Box, so that it could be kept. 35 The Israelites ate manna for the next forty years, until they reached the land of Canaan, where they settled. ( 36 The standard dry measure then in use equaled twenty quarts.)