1 They moved on from Elim, and the whole congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which lies between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt.
2 There in the wilderness the whole congregation of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
3 The children of Israel said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat beside the pots of meat and ate bread until we were full! But you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve this whole assembly to death."
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I am about to rain down bread from the heavens for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day, so that I may test them and see whether they will walk in my law or not.
5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be double what they gather on other days."
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, "This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. As for us, what are we, that you grumble against us?"
8 Moses also said, "You will know it when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning until you are full, because the LORD has heard the grumbling you direct against him. What are we? It is not against us that you grumble, but against the LORD."
9 Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole congregation of the children of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.'"
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they turned toward the wilderness, and there the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
11 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12 "I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'"
13 That evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew lay all around the camp.
14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was something fine and flaky, fine as frost on the ground.
15 The children of Israel saw it and said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses told them, "This is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.
16 Here is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each of you is to gather as much of it as he can eat, an omer per person, by the number of people you have; each one is to gather for those in his tent.'"
17 The children of Israel did so. Some gathered more and some less.
18 But when they measured it by the omer, the one who had gathered much had nothing extra, and the one who had gathered little did not come up short. Each had gathered just as much as he could eat.
19 Moses told them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some kept part of it until morning, and it became wormy and smelled bad; and Moses was angry with them.
21 Every morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat, and when the sun grew hot it melted away.
22 On the sixth day they gathered a double amount of bread, two omers for each person. All the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.
23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD has said: 'Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and set aside all that is left over and keep it until morning.'"
24 So they set it aside until morning, as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell bad, nor were there any worms in it.
25 Moses said, "Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find any in the field.
26 For six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none."
27 Even so, on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found nothing.
28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
29 Consider this: the LORD has given you the Sabbath. That is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Each of you is to stay where he is; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day."
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The house of Israel called it manna. It was white, like coriander seed, and it tasted like wafers made with honey.
32 Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Keep a full omer of it for your 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 Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, put a full omer of manna in it, and set it before the LORD to be kept for your generations to come."
34 Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, Aaron set it before the testimony to be kept.
35 The children of Israel ate manna for forty years, until they came to land where people lived; they ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan.
36 An omer is one tenth of an ephah.