A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Exodus 16
Exodus 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the book of Exodus and the chapter in which the LORD provides manna and quail in the wilderness. The 36-verse chapter follows the Israelites' grumbling, the daily provision of bread from heaven, the rules that go with it, and the first Sabbath observance.
The chapter opens with the whole congregation arriving at the Desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving Egypt. They grumble against Moses and Aaron. "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt!" they say. "There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread. But you have brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger."
The LORD tells Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day." On the sixth day they will gather twice the daily amount. This will test whether they will follow the LORD's instructions.
Moses and Aaron tell the people that they will see the glory of the LORD that evening and the next morning. The LORD has heard their grumbling and will provide meat at twilight and bread in the morning. As Aaron is speaking to the congregation, the glory of the LORD appears in the cloud.
That evening quail come up and cover the camp. In the morning a layer of dew is around the camp; when it dries, thin flakes like frost lie on the ground. The Israelites see them and ask one another, "What is it?" because they do not know what it is. Moses tells them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat."
Each person is to gather an omer per head, the amount they need. Some gather more, some less; when measured, everyone has exactly what is needed. No one is to keep any of it until morning. Some try; it breeds maggots and stinks.
On the sixth day they gather twice as much. Moses tells them, "Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD." This time it does not spoil. On the seventh day there is no manna. Some people go out to gather and find nothing. The LORD asks Moses how long they will refuse to keep his commandments.
The manna is white like coriander seed and tastes like wafers made with honey. The LORD tells Moses to keep an omer of it as a memorial for future generations. Aaron places it in a jar before the testimony.
The chapter closes with a note: the Israelites eat manna for forty years, until they come to a settled land, the border of Canaan.
Verse 1. 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, which is between Elim and Sinai.
Verse 2. And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
Verse 3. “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!”
Verse 4. 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.
Verse 5. 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.”
Verse 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 the land of Egypt,
Verse 7. 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?”
Verse 8. 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.”
Verse 9. Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”
Verse 10. 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.
Verse 11. Then the LORD said to Moses,
Verse 12. “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight 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.’”
Verse 13. That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
Verse 14. When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.
Verse 15. 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.
Verse 16. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”
Verse 17. So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less.
Verse 18. When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.
Verse 19. Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”
Verse 20. 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.
Verse 21. Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
Verse 22. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person—and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.
Verse 23. 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.’”
Verse 24. So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.
Verse 25. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field.
Verse 26. For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”
Verse 27. Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.
Verse 28. Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?
Verse 29. 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.”
Verse 30. So the people rested on the seventh day.
Verse 31. Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
Verse 32. 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.’”
Verse 33. 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.”
Verse 34. And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Verse 35. 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.
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