Exodus 16–18

1On 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.

2And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

3“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!”

4Then 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.

5Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

6So 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,

7and 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?”

8And 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.”

9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”

10And 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.

11Then the LORD said to Moses,

12“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.’”

13That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

14When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.

15When 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.

16This 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.’”

17So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less.

18When 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.

19Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”

20But 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.

21Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

22On 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.

23He 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.’”

24So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.

25“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field.

26For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”

27Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.

28Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?

29Understand 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.”

30So the people rested on the seventh day.

31Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

32Moses 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.’”

33So 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.”

34And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

35The 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(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

1Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

2So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”

3But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

4Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”

5And the LORD said to Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

6Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

8After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.

9So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”

10Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed.

12When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.

13So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.

14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

15And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.

16“Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

1Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her,

3along with her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

4The other son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

5Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the desert, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.

6He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent.

8Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.

9And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had rescued from the hand of the Egyptians.

10Jethro declared, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians.

11Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”

12Then Moses’ father-in-law Jethro brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

13The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening.

14When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone as judge, with all the people standing around you from morning till evening?”

15“Because the people come to me to inquire of God,” Moses replied.

16“Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”

17But Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.

18Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.

19Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their causes to Him.

20Teach them the statutes and laws, and show them the way to live and the work they must do.

21Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

22Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened as they share it with you.

23If you follow this advice and God so directs you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”

24Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.

25So Moses chose capable men from all Israel and made them heads over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

26And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.

27Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own land.