Exodus 16; Exodus 17; Exodus 18

Exodus 16

1 The whole Israelite community left Elim andcame to the Desert of Sin, which was between Elim and Sinai; they arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt.

2 Then the whole Israelite community grumbled to Moses and Aaron in the desert.

3 They said to them, "It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in the land of Egypt. There we had meat to eat and all the food we wanted. But you have brought us into this desert to starve us to death."

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will cause food to fall like rain from the sky for all of you. Every day the people must go out and gather what they need for that day. I want to see if the people will do what I teach them.

5 On the sixth day of each week, they are to gather twice as much as they gather on other days. Then they are to prepare it."

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: "This evening you will know that the Lord is the one who brought you out of Egypt.

7 Tomorrow morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard you grumble against him. We are nothing, so you are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord."

8 And Moses said, "Each evening the Lord will give you meat to eat, and every morning he will give you all the bread you want, because he has heard you grumble against him. You are not grumbling against Aaron and me, because we are nothing; you are grumbling against the Lord."

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Speak to the whole community of the Israelites, and say to them, 'Meet together in the presence of the Lord, because he has heard your grumblings.'"

10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole community of the Israelites, they looked toward the desert. There the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

11 The Lord said to Moses,

12 "I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel. So tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and every morning you will eat all the bread you want. Then you will know I am the Lord your God.'"

13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.

14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost were on the desert ground.

15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, "What is it?" because they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, "This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

16 The Lord has commanded, 'Each one of you must gather what he needs, about two quarts for every person in your family.'"

17 So the people of Israel did this; some people gathered much, and some gathered little.

18 Then they measured it. The person who gathered more did not have too much, nor did the person who gathered less have too little. Each person gathered just as much as he needed.

19 Moses said to them, "Don't keep any of it to eat the next day."

20 But some of the people did not listen to Moses and kept part of it to eat the next morning. It became full of worms and began to stink, so Moses was angry with those people.

21 Every morning each person gathered as much food as he needed, but when the sun became hot, it melted away.

22 On the sixth day the people gathered twice as much food -- four quarts for every person. When all the leaders of the community came and told this to Moses,

23 he said to them, "This is what the Lord commanded, because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Lord's holy day of rest. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil today. Save the rest of the food until tomorrow morning."

24 So the people saved it until the next morning, as Moses had commanded, and none of it began to stink or have worms in it.

25 Moses told the people, "Eat the food you gathered yesterday. Today is a Sabbath, the Lord's day of rest; you will not find any out in the field today.

26 You should gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day. On that day there will not be any food on the ground."

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they couldn't find any.

28 Then the Lord said to Moses, "How long will you people refuse to obey my commands and teachings?

29 Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for you. So on the sixth day he will give you enough food for two days, but on the seventh day each of you must stay where you are. Do not go anywhere."

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like small white seeds and tasted like wafers made with honey.

32 Then Moses said, "The Lord said, 'Save two quarts of this food for your descendants. Then they can see the food I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.'"

33 Moses told Aaron, "Take a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Then place it before the Lord, and save it for your descendants."

34 So Aaron did what the Lord had commanded Moses. He put the jar of manna in front of the Agreement to keep it safe.

35 The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to the land where they settled -- the edge of the land of Canaan.

36 The measure they used for the manna was two quarts, or one-tenth of an ephah.

Exodus 17

1 The whole Israelite community left the Desert of Sin and traveled from place to place, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink.

2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why are you testing the Lord?"

3 But the people were very thirsty for water, so they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it to kill us, our children, and our farm animals with thirst?"

4 So Moses cried to the Lord, "What can I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me to death."

5 The Lord said to Moses, "Go ahead of the people, and take some of the older leaders of Israel with you. Carry with you the walking stick that you used to strike the Nile River. Now go!

6 I will stand in front of you on a rock at Mount Sinai. Hit that rock with the stick, and water will come out of it so that the people can drink." Moses did these things as the older leaders of Israel watched.

7 He named that place Massah, because the Israelites tested the Lord when they asked, "Is the Lord with us or not?" He also named it Meribah, because they quarreled.

8 At Rephidim the Amalekites came and fought the Israelites.

9 So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some men and go and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, holding the walking stick of God in my hands."

10 Joshua obeyed Moses and went to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill.

11 As long as Moses held his hands up, the Israelites would win the fight, but when Moses put his hands down, the Amalekites would win.

12 Later, when Moses' arms became tired, the men put a large rock under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands -- Aaron on one side and Hur on the other. They kept his hands steady until the sun went down.

13 So Joshua defeated the Amalekites in this battle.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write about this battle in a book so people will remember. And be sure to tell Joshua, because I will completely destroy the Amalekites from the earth."

15 Then Moses built an altar and named it The Lord is my Banner.

16 Moses said, "I lifted my hands toward the Lord's throne. The Lord will fight against the Amalekites forever."

Exodus 18

1 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, was the priest of Midian. He heard about everything that God had done for Moses and his people, the Israelites, and how the Lord had led the Israelites out of Egypt.

2 Now Moses had sent his wife Zipporah to Jethro, his father-in-law,

3 along with his two sons. The first son was named Gershom, because when he was born, Moses said, "I am a stranger in a foreign country."

4 The other son was named Eliezer, because when he was born, Moses said, "The God of my father is my help. He saved me from the king of Egypt."

5 So Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Moses' wife and his two sons and went to Moses. He was camped in the desert near the mountain of God.

6 Jethro had sent a message ahead to Moses that said, "I, Jethro, your father-in-law, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons."

7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. After the two men asked about each other's health, they went into Moses' tent.

8 Moses told his father-in-law everything the Lord had done to the king and the Egyptians to help Israel. He told about all the problems they had faced along the way and how the Lord had saved them.

9 Jethro was very happy to hear all the good things the Lord had done for Israel when he had saved them from the Egyptians.

10 He said, "Praise the Lord. He has saved you from the Egyptians and their king, and he has saved the people from the power of the Egyptians.

11 Now I know the Lord is greater than all gods, because he did this to those who looked down on Israel."

12 Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, gave a whole burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the older leaders of Israel came to Moses' father-in-law to eat the holy meal together before God.

13 The next day Moses solved disagreements among the people, and the people stood around him from morning until night.

14 When Moses' father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, "What is all this you are doing for the people? Why are you the only one to solve disagreements? All the people are standing around you from morning until night!"

15 Then Moses said to his father-in-law, "It is because the people come to me for God's help in solving their disagreements.

16 When people have a disagreement, they come to me, and I decide who is right. I tell them God's laws and teachings."

17 Moses' father-in-law said to him, "You are not doing this right.

18 You and the people who come to you will get too tired. This is too much work for you; you can't do it by yourself.

19 Now listen to me, and I will give you some advice. I want God to be with you. You must speak to God for the people and tell him about their disagreements.

20 Warn them about the laws and teachings, and teach them the right way to live and what they should do.

21 But choose some capable men from among the people -- men who respect God, who can be trusted, and who will not change their decisions for money. Make these men officers over the people, to rule over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

22 Let these officers solve the disagreements among the people all the time. They can bring the hard cases to you, but they can decide the simple cases themselves. That will make it easier for you, because they will share the work with you.

23 If you do this as God commands you, then you will be able to do your job, and all the people will go home with their disagreements solved."

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

25 He chose capable men from all the Israelites and made them leaders over the people; they were officers over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

26 These officers solved disagreements among the people all the time. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but they decided the simple cases themselves.

27 So Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro went back to his own home.