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1 And they departed from Ælim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Ælim and Sina; and on the fifteenth day, in the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt, 2 all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, Would we had died smitten by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and ate bread to satiety! for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to slay all this congregation with hunger. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread upon you out of heaven: and the people shall go forth, and they shall gather their daily portion for the day, that I may try them whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 And it shall come to pass on the sixth day that they shall prepare whatsoever they have brought in, and it shall be double of what they shall have gathered for the day, daily. 6 And Moses and Aaron said to all the congregation of the children of Israel, At even ye shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; 7 and in the morning ye shall see the glory of the Lord, inasmuch as he hears your murmuring against God; and who are we, that ye continue to murmur against us? 8 And Moses said, This shall be when the Lord gives you in the evening flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to satiety, because the Lord has heard your murmuring, which ye murmur against us: and what are we? for your murmuring is not against us, but against God.
9 And Moses said to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before God; for he has heard your murmuring. 10 And when Aaron spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they turned toward the wilderness, then the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud. 11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel: speak to them, saying, Towards evening ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be satisfied with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God. 13 And it was evening, and quails came up and covered the camp: 14 in the morning it came to pass as the dew ceased round about the camp, that, behold, on the face of the wilderness was a small thing like white coriander seed, as frost upon the earth. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is this? for they knew not what it was; and Moses said to them, 16 This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is that which the Lord has appointed: gather of it each man for his family, a homer for each person, *according to the number of your souls, gather each of you with his fellow-lodgers. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered some much and some less. 18 And having measured the homer full, ✡ he that had gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered less had no lack; each gathered †according to the need of those who belonged to him. 19 And Moses said to them, Let no man leave of it till the morning.
20 But they did not hearken to Moses, but some left of it till the morning; and it bred worms and stank: and Moses was irritated with them. 21 And they gathered it every morning, each man what he needed, and when the sun waxed hot it melted. 22 And it came to pass on the sixth day, they gathered double what was needed, two homers for one man; and all the chiefs of the synagogue went in and reported it to Moses. 23 And Moses said to them, Is not this the word which the Lord spoke? To-morrow is the sabbath, a holy rest to the Lord: bake that ye will bake, and seethe that ye will seethe, and all that is over leave to be laid by for the morrow. 24 And they left of it till the morning, as Moses commanded them; and it stank not, neither was there a worm in it. 25 And Moses said, Eat that to-day, for to-day is a sabbath to the Lord: it shall not be found in the plain. 26 Six days ye shall gather it, and on the seventh day is a sabbath, for there shall be none on that day. 27 And it came to pass on the seventh day that some of the people went forth to gather, and found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, How long are ye unwilling to hearken to my commands and my law? 29 See, for the Lord has given you this day as the sabbath, therefore he has given you on the sixth day the bread of two days: ye shall sit each of you in your houses; let no one go forth from his place on the seventh day. 30 And the people kept sabbath on the seventh day. 31 And the children of Israel called the name of it Man; and it was as white coriander seed, and the taste of it as a wafer with honey. 32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Fill an homer with manna, to be laid up for your generations; that they may see the bread which ye ate in the wilderness, when the Lord led you forth out of the land of Egypt. 33 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a golden pot, and cast into it one full homer of manna; and thou shalt lay it up before God, to be kept for your generations, 34 as the Lord commanded Moses: and Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to the ‡land they ate the manna, until they came to the region of Phœnicia. 36 Now the homer was the tenth part of three measures.
* 16:16 Gr. by the head. ✡ 16:18 2 Cor. 8. 15. † 16:18 i. e. just sufficient for. ‡ 16:35 Gr. οἰκοuμένη.