The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And they went on their way from Elim, and all the children of Israel came into the waste land of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they went out of the land of Egypt.
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The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.
2 And all the children of Israel were crying out against Moses and Aaron in the waste land:
2
There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron
3 And the children of Israel said to them, It would have been better for the Lord to have put us to death in the land of Egypt, where we were seated by the flesh-pots and had bread enough for our needs; for you have taken us out to this waste of sand, to put all this people to death through need of food.
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and said to them, "We wish that the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death."
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, See, I will send down bread from heaven for you; and the people will go out every day and get enough for the day's needs; so that I may put them to the test to see if they will keep my laws or not.
4
The Lord said to Moses, "Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions.
5 And on the sixth day they are to make ready what they get in, and it will be twice as much as they get on the other days.
5
On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as usual and prepare it."
6 And Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, This evening it will be clear to you that it is the Lord who has taken you out of the land of Egypt:
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So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt.
7 And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord; for your angry words against the Lord have come to his ears: and what are we that you are crying out against us?
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In the morning you will see the dazzling light of the Lord's presence. He has heard your complaints against him - yes, against him, because we are only carrying out his instructions."
8 And Moses said, The Lord will give you meat for your food at evening, and in the morning bread in full measure; for your outcry against the Lord has come to his ears: for what are we? your outcry is not against us but against the Lord.
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Then Moses said, "It is the Lord who will give you meat to eat in the evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, because he has heard how much you have complained against him. When you complain against us, you are really complaining against the Lord."
9 And Moses said to Aaron, Say to all the people of Israel, Come near before the Lord for he has given ear to your outcry.
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Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole community to come and stand before the Lord, because he has heard their complaints."
10 And while Aaron was talking to the children of Israel, their eyes were turned in the direction of the waste land, and they saw the glory of the Lord shining in the cloud.
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As Aaron spoke to the whole community, they turned toward the desert, and suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord appeared in a cloud.
11 And the Lord said to Moses,
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The Lord said to Moses,
12 The outcry of the children of Israel has come to my ears: say to them now, At nightfall you will have meat for your food, and in the morning bread in full measure; and you will see that I am the Lord your God.
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"I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them that at twilight they will have meat to eat, and in the morning they will have all the bread they want. Then they will know that I, the Lord, am their God."
13 And it came about that in the evening little birds came up and the place was covered with them: and in the morning there was dew all round about the tents.
13
In the evening a large flock of quails flew in, enough to cover the camp, and in the morning there was dew all around the camp.
14 And when the dew was gone, on the face of the earth was a small round thing, like small drops of ice on the earth.
14
When the dew evaporated, there was something thin and flaky on the surface of the desert. It was as delicate as frost.
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it? for they had no idea what it was. And Moses said to them, It is the bread which the Lord has given you for your food.
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When the Israelites saw it, they didn't know what it was and asked each other, "What is it?" Moses said to them, "This is the food that the Lord has given you to eat.
16 This is what the Lord has said, Let every man take up as much as he has need of; at the rate of one omer for every person, let every man take as much as is needed for his family.
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The Lord has commanded that each of you is to gather as much of it as he needs, two quarts for each member of his household."
17 And the children of Israel did so, and some took more and some less.
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The Israelites did this, some gathering more, others less.
18 And when it was measured, he who had taken up much had nothing over, and he who had little had enough; every man had taken what he was able to make use of.
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When they measured it, those who gathered much did not have too much, and those who gathered less did not have too little. Each had gathered just what he needed.
19 And Moses said to them, Let nothing be kept till the morning.
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Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it for tomorrow."
20 But they gave no attention to Moses, and some of them kept it till the morning and there were worms in it and it had an evil smell: and Moses was angry with them.
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But some of them did not listen to Moses and saved part of it. The next morning it was full of worms and smelled rotten, and Moses was angry with them.
21 And they took it up morning by morning, every man as he had need: and when the sun was high it was gone.
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Every morning each one gathered as much as he needed; and when the sun grew hot, what was left on the ground melted.
22 And on the sixth day they took up twice as much of the bread, two omers for every person: and all the rulers of the people gave Moses word of it.
22
On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts for each person. All the leaders of the community came and told Moses about it,
23 And he said, This is what the Lord has said, Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord: what has to be cooked may be cooked; and what is over, put on one side to be kept till the morning.
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and he said to them, "The Lord has commanded that tomorrow is a holy day of rest, dedicated to him. Bake today what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Whatever is left should be put aside and kept for tomorrow."
24 And they kept it till the morning as Moses had said: and no smell came from it, and it had no worms.
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As Moses had commanded, they kept what was left until the next day; it did not spoil or get worms in it.
25 And Moses said, Make your meal today of what you have, for this day is a Sabbath to the Lord: today you will not get any in the fields.
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Moses said, "Eat this today, because today is the Sabbath, a day of rest dedicated to the Lord, and you will not find any food outside the camp.
26 For six days you will get it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.
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You must gather food for six days, but on the seventh day, the day of rest, there will be none."
27 But still on the seventh day some of the people went out to get it, and there was not any.
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On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they did not find any.
28 And the Lord said to Moses, How long will you go against my orders and my laws?
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Then the Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will you people refuse to obey my commands?
29 See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, he gives you on the sixth day bread enough for two days; let every man keep where he is; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
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Remember that I, the Lord, have given you a day of rest, and that is why on the sixth day I will always give you enough food for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day and not leave his home."
30 So the people took their rest on the seventh day.
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So the people did no work on the seventh day.
31 And this bread was named manna by Israel: it was white, like a grain seed, and its taste was like cakes made with honey.
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The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like a small white seed, and tasted like thin cakes made with honey.
32 And Moses said, This is the order which the Lord has given: Let one omer of it be kept for future generations, so that they may see the bread which I gave you for your food in the waste land, when I took you out from the land of Egypt.
32
Moses said, "The Lord has commanded us to save some manna, to be kept for our descendants, so that they can see the food which he gave us to eat in the desert when he brought us out of Egypt."
33 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot and put one omer of manna in it, and put it away before the Lord, to be kept for future generations.
33
Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, put two quarts of manna in it, and place it in the Lord's presence to be kept for our descendants."
34 So Aaron put it away in front of the holy chest to be kept, as the Lord gave orders to Moses.
34
As the Lord had commanded Moses, Aaron put it in front of the Covenant Box, so that it could be kept.
35 And the children of Israel had manna for their food for forty years, till they came to a land with people in it, till they came to the edge of the land of Canaan.
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The Israelites ate manna for the next forty years, until they reached the land of Canaan, where they settled.
36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
36
(The standard dry measure then in use equaled twenty quarts.)
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.