Our Father Rains Bread from Heaven
16 1 They set out from Elim, and the whole congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The people of Israel said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of our Father in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve this whole assembly to death."
4 Then our Father said to Moses, "I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my instruction or not." 1 1 v4 Jesus pointed back to this bread from heaven when he called himself the true bread our Father gives — the bread of life that came down from heaven to give life to the world. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, "At evening you shall know that it was our Father who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of our Father, for he has heard your grumbling against him. For what are we, that you grumble against us?" 8 And Moses said, "When our Father gives you meat to eat in the evening, and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against our Father."
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, 'Come near before our Father, for he has heard your grumbling.'" 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of our Father appeared in the cloud. 11 And our Father said to Moses,
12 "I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you shall know that I am your Father.'"
13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew had lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine, flaky substance like frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread that our Father has given you to eat. 16 This is what our Father has commanded: 'Gather some of it, each one as much as he can eat. You shall take about two quarts apiece, according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.'" 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with the two-quart measure, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had enough. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over until the morning." 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it until the morning, and it was full of worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.
The Father Gives Rest
22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, about four quarts each. And all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 He said to them, "This is what our Father has spoken: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to our Father. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over set aside to be kept until the morning.'" 24 So they set it aside until the morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to our Father; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none."
27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
28 And our Father said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my instructions? 29 See, I have given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day I give you bread for two days. Everyone must stay in their place; no one is to leave their place on the seventh day."
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
Manna Kept for Every Generation
31 Now the house of Israel called it manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers made with honey. 2 2 v31 The name manna echoes the people's first question, "What is it?" — they named the bread after their own wonder at it. 32 Moses said, "This is what our Father has commanded: 'Let about two quarts of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'"
33 And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, and put about two quarts of manna in it, and place it before our Father to be kept throughout your generations." 34 As our Father commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. 3 3 v34 The testimony: the stone tablets of the covenant, later kept inside the Ark.
35 The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (An omer holds about two quarts—one-tenth of an ephah.)