Read the Bible

Bread in the Morning, Meat in the Evening

¹ All the people of Israel left Elim, and came to the Desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. It was the fifteenth day of the second month after they left the land of Egypt. ² And all the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert, ³ saying, "We should have died by the Lord's hand 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 desert to kill all of us with hunger."

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people will go out and gather a day's share every day, so I may test them to see if they will follow My Law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as they gather each day." ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to the people of Israel, "This evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ And in the morning you will see the greatness of the Lord. For He hears your complaining against the Lord. What are we, that you complain against us?" ⁸ Moses said, "The Lord is giving you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning. For He hears how you complain against Him. What are we? You complain not against us, but against the Lord." ⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the people of Israel, ‘Come near to the Lord, for He has heard your complaining.'" ¹⁰ When Aaron spoke to all the people of Israel, they looked toward the desert. And they saw in the cloud the shining-greatness of the Lord. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² "I have heard the complaining of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘In the evening 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.'"

¹³ In the evening quails came and covered the place where the people were staying. And in the early morning a little water was around the tents. ¹⁴ When the water had gone, there were small white pieces all over the ground of the desert. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has told you to do: ‘Every man gather as much of it as he can eat. Take a jar for every person that each of you has in his tent.'" ¹⁷ The people did so. Some gathered much and some less. ¹⁸ When they saw how much they had, he who had gathered much had no more than what was needed. And he who had gathered less had enough. Every man gathered as much as he could eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, "Let no one save any of it until morning." ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it until morning. And worms grew in it and it became bad to eat. So Moses was angry with them. ²¹ Morning after morning they gathered it, every man as much as he could eat. But when the sun became hot, it would melt.

²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two jars for each person. When all the leaders of the people came and told Moses, ²³ he said to them, "This is what the Lord said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of rest, a holy Day of Rest to the Lord. Make ready the food you will need for today. Then put aside what is left to be kept until morning.'" ²⁴ So they put it aside until morning, as Moses told them. And it did not become bad to eat, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, "Eat it today. For today is a Day of Rest to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you will gather it. 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 it. But they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will you go against My Word and My Laws? ²⁹ See, the Lord has given you the Day of Rest. This is why He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Every man should stay home and not leave his place on the seventh day." ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The people of Israel called it bread from heaven. It was like coriander seed, white, and tasted like bread made with honey. ³² Moses said, "This is what the Lord has said: ‘Let a jar of it be kept for your children and grandchildren to come, so they may see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" ³³ Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar full of the bread from heaven. And put it before the Lord, to be kept for all your children to come." ³⁴ As the Lord told Moses, Aaron put it in front of the special box of the agreement to be kept. ³⁵ The people of Israel ate the bread from heaven forty years, until they came to a land where other people lived. They ate the bread from heaven until they came to the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (It took about ten jars to fill a large basket.)