Manna and Quail from Heaven 1 DRA And they set forward from Elim, and all the multitude of the children of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai: the fifteenth day of the second month, after they came out of the land of Egypt. BSB BSB: On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.
2 DRA And all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. BSB BSB: And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
3 DRA And the children of Israel said to them: Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat over the flesh pots, and ate bread to the full. Why have you brought us into this desert, that you might destroy all the multitude with famine? BSB BSB: “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
4 DRA And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you: let the people go forth, and gather what is sufficient for every day: that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law, or not. BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.
5 DRA But the sixth day let them provide for to bring in: and let it be double to that they were wont to gather every day. BSB BSB: Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6 DRA And Moses and Aaron said to the children of Israel: In the evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Egypt: BSB BSB: So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
7 DRA And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord: for he hath heard your murmuring against the Lord: but as for us, what are we, that you mutter against us? BSB BSB: and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we, that you should grumble against us?”
8 DRA And Moses said: In the evening the Lord will give you flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full: for he hath heard your murmurings, with which you have murmured against him, for what are we? your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord. BSB BSB: And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”
9 DRA Moses also said to Aaron: Say to the whole congregation of the children of Israel: Come before the Lord: for he hath heard your murmuring. BSB BSB: Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”
10 DRA And when Aaron spoke to all the assembly of the children of Israel, they looked towards the wilderness: and behold the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud. BSB BSB: And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.
11 DRA And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses,
12 DRA I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel: say to them: In the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread: and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. BSB BSB: “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight 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 DRA So it came to pass in the evening, that quails coming up, covered the camp: and in the morning, a dew lay round about the camp. BSB BSB: That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14 DRA And when it had covered the face of the earth, it appeared in the wilderness small, and as it were beaten with a pestle, like unto the hoar frost on the ground. BSB BSB: When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.
15 DRA And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another: Manhu! which signifieth: What is this! for they knew not what it was. And Moses said to them: This is the bread, which the Lord hath given you to eat. BSB BSB: When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.
16 DRA This is the word, that the Lord hath commanded: Let every one gather of it as much as is enough to eat: a gomor for every man, according to the number of your souls that dwell in a tent, so shall you take of it. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”
17 DRA And the children of Israel did so: and they gathered, one more, another less. BSB BSB: So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less.
18 DRA And they measured by the measure of a gomor: neither had he more that had gathered more: nor did he find less that had provided less: but every one had gathered, according to what they were able to eat. BSB BSB: When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.
19 DRA And Moses said to them: Let no man leave thereof till the morning. BSB BSB: Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”
20 DRA And they hearkened not to him, but some of them left until the morning, and it began to be full of worms, an it putrified, and Moses was angry with them. BSB BSB: But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21 DRA Now every one of them gathered in the morning, as much as might suffice to eat: and after the sun grew hot, it melted. BSB BSB: Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
The Sabbath Observed (Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:1–11)
22 DRA But on the sixth day they gathered twice as much, that is, two gomors every man: and all the rulers of the multitude came, and told Moses. BSB BSB: On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person—and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.
23 DRA And he said to them: This is what the Lord hath spoken: Tomorrow is the rest of the sabbath sanctified to the Lord. Whatsoever work is to be done, do it: and the meats that are to be dressed, dress them: and whatsoever shall remain, lay it up until the morning. BSB BSB: He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”
24 DRA And they did so as Moses had commanded, and it did not putrify, neither was there worm found in it. BSB BSB: So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.
25 DRA And Moses said: Eat it today, because it is the sabbath of the Lord: today it shall not be found in the field. BSB BSB: “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field.
26 DRA Gather it six days: but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, therefore it shall not be found. BSB BSB: For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”
27 DRA And the seventh day came: and some of the people going forth to gather, found none. BSB BSB: Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.
28 DRA And the Lord said to Moses: How long will you refuse to keep my commandments, and my law? BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?
29 DRA See that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, and for this reason on the sixth day he giveth you a double provision: let each man stay at home, and let none go forth out of his place the seventh day. BSB BSB: Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.”
30 DRA And the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day. BSB BSB: So the people rested on the seventh day.
The Jar of Manna 31 DRA And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed white, and the taste thereof like to flour with honey. BSB BSB: Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
32 DRA And Moses said: This is the word, which the Lord hath commanded: Fill a gomor of it, and let it be kept unto generations to come hereafter, that they may know the bread, wherewith I fed you in the wilderness, when you were brought forth out of the land of Egypt. BSB BSB: Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
33 DRA And Moses said to Aaron: Take a vessel, and put manna into it, as much as a gomor can hold: and lay it up before the Lord to keep unto your generations, BSB BSB: So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”
34 DRA As the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron put it in the tabernacle to be kept. BSB BSB: And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
35 DRA And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land: with this meat were they fed, until they reached the borders of the land of Chanaan. BSB BSB: The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
36 DRA Now a gomor is the tenth part of an ephi. BSB BSB: (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)