Exodus

Manna and Quails

The Israelites left Elim, and the entire community reached the desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving Egypt.

In the desert, the whole community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron

and said to them:

“If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt when we sat down to caldrons of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!”

The Lord then said to Moses:

“Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day, the people are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way, I will test them to see if they will follow my Teaching or not.

On the sixth day, when they prepare what they have brought in, they will find that there is twice as much as they gather each day.”

Then Moses and Aaron said to the people of Israel:

“In the evening, you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt,

and in the morning, you will see the Glory of the Lord. He has heard your grumbling against him because who are we that you should grumble against us?

In the evening, the Lord will give you meat to eat and bread to satisfy your hunger because the Lord heard your grumbling. You are not grumbling against us but against the Lord, for who are we?

Then Moses directed Aaron to say to the whole community of Israel:

“Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaints.”

As Aaron was speaking to the whole assembly of Israel, they turned towards the desert and saw the Glory of the Lord in the midst of the cloud.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

“I have heard Israel’s complaints. Speak to them and say: Between the two evenings, you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will have bread to your heart’s content; then you shall know that I am the Lord, your God!”

In the evening, quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning, dew had fallen around the camp.

When the dew lifted, there was a thin crust like hoarfrost on the surface of the desert.

The people of Israel, upon seeing it, said to one another, “What is it?” for they didn’t know what it was.

Moses told them:

“It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.”

“This is what the Lord commanded: Gather it according to the amount each eats, about four liters a piece, and according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.”

This is what the people of Israel did. They gathered it, some more, others less.

But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered more didn’t have too much, while those who gathered less didn’t have too little. Each one had as much as he needed.

Moses said to them:

“Let no one leave any of it till the morning.”

But they did not listen to Moses, and some left it till morning. It bred worms and became foul, and Moses was angry with them.

Every morning, each one gathered as much as he could eat, and when the sun grew hot, it melted.

On the sixth day, they gathered twice the amount of bread, two omers each, and the leader of the people came to tell Moses.

He said to them:

“This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow you shall rest, for that day is a Rest—or Sabbath—sacred to the Lord.

Bake today what you have to bake and boil what you have to cook, and you shall put aside what is left over to be kept till the next day.”

So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered. Its smell was not foul, and it was free of maggots.

And Moses said:

“Eat it today, for this is a day of Rest—or Sabbath—in honor of the Lord. Today, you will not find it in the fields.

For six days, you will gather it, but there will be none on the seventh day, the Sabbath.”

Some people went out on the seventh day but found none.

Then the Lord said to Moses:

“How long will you refuse to obey my commands and my laws?

The Lord has given you this Resting Day! That is why, on the sixth day, he gave you bread for two days. Each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.”

And so the people rested on the seventh day.

The people of Israel called this food manna. It was white like coriander seeds and tasted like wafers made with honey.

And Moses said:

“This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Take a measure of manna and keep it for future generations to let them see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

Then Moses said to Aaron:

“Take a jar and fill it with a measure of manna and place it before the Lord for your descendants.”

Accordingly, Aaron put a full measure of manna in the jar as the Lord had commanded Moses and placed it for safekeeping in the Ark of the Covenant.

The people of Israel ate the manna until they reached an inhabited land. They ate it for forty years until they reached the border of the land of Canaan.

The container used for measuring the manna was two liters.