The Word Am I

The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 16 -

1
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.
2
And all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
3
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?
4
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.
5
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.
6
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:
7
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?
8
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.
9
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.
10
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.
11
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
12
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.
13
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.
14
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.
15
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.
16
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.
17
And the children of Israel did so: and they gathered, one more, another less.
18
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.
19
And Moses said to them: Let no man leave thereof till the morning.
20
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.
21
Now every one of them gathered in the morning, as much as might suffice to eat: and after the sun grew hot, it melted.

The Sabbath Observed

(Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:1–11)
22
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.
23
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.
24
And they did so as Moses had commanded, and it did not putrify, neither was there worm found in it.
25
And Moses said: Eat it today, because it is the sabbath of the Lord: today it shall not be found in the field.
26
Gather it six days: but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, therefore it shall not be found.
27
And the seventh day came: and some of the people going forth to gather, found none.
28
And the Lord said to Moses: How long will you refuse to keep my commandments, and my law?
29
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.
30
And the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day.

The Jar of Manna

31
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.
32
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.
33
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,
34
As the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron put it in the tabernacle to be kept.
35
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.
36
Now a gomor is the tenth part of an ephi.
1
They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
2
The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;
3
and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
5
It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6
Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, you shall know that the LORD has brought you out from the land of Egypt.
7
In the morning, you shall see the LORD’s glory; because he hears your murmurings against the LORD. Who are we, that you murmur against us?”
8
Moses said, “Now the LORD will give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you, because the LORD hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.”
9
Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come close to the LORD, for he has heard your murmurings.’”
10
As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the LORD’s glory appeared in the cloud.
11
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12
I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”
13
In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp.
14
When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground.
15
When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
16
This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer (a) a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent.’”
17
The children of Israel did so, and some gathered more, some less.
18
When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They each gathered according to his eating.
19
Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.”
20
Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, so it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them.
21
They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted.

The Sabbath Observed

(Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:1–11)
22
On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23
He said to them, “This is that which the LORD has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’”
24
They laid it up until the morning, as Moses ordered, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it.
25
Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you shall not find it in the field.
26
Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.”
27
On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none.
28
The LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
29
Behold, because the LORD has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”
30
So the people rested on the seventh day.

The Jar of Manna

31
The house of Israel called its nameManna”,(b) and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey.
32
Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
33
Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations.”
34
As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35
The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.
36
Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.(c)

Footnotes

(a)16:16 An omer is about 2.2 liters or about 2.3 quarts
(b)16:31 “Manna” means “What is it?”
(c)16:36 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel