Manna and Quail from Heaven

1And they journeyed from Elim, all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they came to the Wilderness of Sin,† which is between Elim and between Sinai, on the five and tenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2And all congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness. 3And the sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of YHWH in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of flesh, when we ate bread to the full. For you⁺ have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4And YHWH said to Moses, “Behold, I am raining down for you⁺ bread from the heavens, and the people shall go out and gather the portion of a day in its day, so that I may test them whether they will walk in My law or not. 5And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be double over what they gather day by day.”

6And Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “And you⁺ shall know at evening that YHWH has brought you⁺ out from the land of Egypt, 7and in the morning you⁺ shall see the glory of YHWH, in His hearing your⁺ complaints against YHWH. And what are we, that you⁺ grumble against us?”

8And Moses said, “In YHWH giving to you⁺ flesh in the evening to eat, and bread in the morning to the full, in YHWH hearing your⁺ complaints that you⁺ complain against Him. And what are we? Your⁺ complaints are not against us, but against YHWH.”

9And Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Come near before YHWH, for He has heard your⁺ complaints.’”

10And it came to pass as Aaron spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of YHWH appeared in the cloud.

11And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 12“I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘Between the evenings† you⁺ shall eat flesh, and in the morning you⁺ shall be filled with bread, and you⁺ shall know that I am YHWH your⁺ God.’”

13And it came to pass in the evening that the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew was lying around the camp. 14And the lying of the dew went up, and behold, on the face of the wilderness a thin, flaky substance, as thin as frost on the earth. 15And the sons of Israel saw it, and they said, each man to his brother, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that YHWH has given to you⁺ for food. 16This is the word that YHWH has commanded: ‘Let every man gather from it, according to the mouths of his eating, an omer† for each person; to the number of your⁺ souls, each man shall take for those who are in his tent.’”

17And the sons of Israel did so. And they gathered—the one much, and the one little. 18And they measured it with the omer, and he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.† Each man gathered according to the mouths of his eating.

19And Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.” 20And they did not listen to Moses, and some men left from it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

21And they gathered it morning by morning, each man according to the mouths of his eating; and when the sun grew hot, it melted.

The Sabbath Observed
(Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:1–11)

22And it came to pass, on the sixth day, that they gathered double bread—two omers† for each one—and all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses. 23And he said to them, “This is what YHWH has said: ‘Tomorrow is a complete rest, a holy Sabbath to YHWH,. What you⁺ bake, bake, and what you⁺ boil, boil; and all that remains, lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’”

24And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25And Moses said, “Eat it today; for today is a Sabbath to YHWH; today you⁺ will not find it in the field. 26Six days you⁺ shall gather it, and on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none in it.”

27And it came to pass on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28And YHWH said to Moses, “How long do you⁺ refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29See that YHWH has given to you⁺ the Sabbath; upon thus He gives to you⁺ on the sixth day bread for two days. Let each man remain in his place; let no man go out from his place on the seventh day.”

30And the people rested on the seventh day.

The Jar of Manna

31And the house of Israel called its name Manna,† and it was like white coriander seed, and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32And Moses said, “This is the word that YHWH has commanded: ‘The fullness of an omer from it is to be kept for your⁺ generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you⁺ in the wilderness when I brought you⁺ out from the land of Egypt.’”

33And Moses said to Aaron, “Take one pot, and put there the fullness of an omer of manna, and lay it up before the face of YHWH to be kept for your⁺ generations.” 34And as YHWH commanded Moses, Aaron laid it up before the face of the Testimony† to be kept.

35And the sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36And an omer is a tenth of an ephah.†

Footnotes:

1 The geographical name Sin is related to Sinai and should not be mistaken for the English word sin.
12 That is, At twilight
16 An omer is approximately 2 dry quarts or 2.2 liters; also in verses 18, 32, 33, and 36.
18 Cited in 2 Corinthians 8:15
22 2 omers is approximately 4 dry quarts or 4.4 liters per person.
31 Manna sounds like the Hebrew for What is it? (see verse 15).
34 The Testimony refers to the stone tablets in the ark of the covenant inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
36 An ephah was a dry measure having the capacity of about 20 dry quarts or 22 liters.