The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, the whole company of Israel moved on from Elim to the Wilderness of Sin which is between Elim and Sinai.
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And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto 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 company of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron there in the wilderness.
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And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
3 The Israelites said, "Why didn't God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat? You've brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death, the whole company of Israel!"
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And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
4 God said to Moses, "I'm going to rain bread down from the skies for you. The people will go out and gather each day's ration. I'm going to test them to see if they'll live according to my Teaching or not.
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Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they have gathered, it will turn out to be twice as much as their daily ration."
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And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
6 Moses and Aaron told the People of Israel, "This evening you will know that it is God who brought you out of Egypt;
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And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
7 and in the morning you will see the Glory of God. Yes, he's listened to your complaints against him. You haven't been complaining against us, you know, but against God."
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And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
8 Moses said, "Since it will be God who gives you meat for your meal in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, it's God who will have listened to your complaints against him. Who are we in all this? You haven't been complaining to us - you've been complaining to God!"
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And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.
9 Moses instructed Aaron: "Tell the whole company of Israel: 'Come near to God. He's heard your complaints.'"
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And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.
10 When Aaron gave out the instructions to the whole company of Israel, they turned to face the wilderness. And there it was: the Glory of God visible in the Cloud.
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And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
11 God spoke to Moses,
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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12 "I've listened to the complaints of the Israelites. Now tell them: 'At dusk you will eat meat and at dawn you'll eat your fill of bread; and you'll realize that I am God, your God.'"
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I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.
13 That evening quail flew in and covered the camp and in the morning there was a layer of dew all over the camp.
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And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14 When the layer of dew had lifted, there on the wilderness ground was a fine flaky something, fine as frost on the ground.
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And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15 The Israelites took one look and said to one another, man-hu (What is it?). They had no idea what it was.
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And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
16 And these are God's instructions: 'Gather enough for each person, about two quarts per person; gather enough for everyone in your tent.'"
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This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17 The People of Israel went to work and started gathering, some more, some less,
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And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 but when they measured out what they had gathered, those who gathered more had no extra and those who gathered less weren't short - each person had gathered as much as was needed.
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And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19 Moses said to them, "Don't leave any of it until morning."
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And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.
20 But they didn't listen to Moses. A few of the men kept back some of it until morning. It got wormy and smelled bad. And Moses lost his temper with them.
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Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
21 They gathered it every morning, each person according to need. Then the sun heated up and it melted.
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And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, about four quarts per person. Then the leaders of the company came to Moses and reported.
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And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23 Moses said, "This is what God was talking about: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to God. Whatever you plan to bake, bake today; and whatever you plan to boil, boil today. Then set aside the leftovers until morning."
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And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24 They set aside what was left until morning, as Moses had commanded. It didn't smell bad and there were no worms in it.
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And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25 Moses said, "Now eat it; this is the day, a Sabbath for God. You won't find any of it on the ground today.
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And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.
26 Gather it every day for six days, but the seventh day is Sabbath; there won't be any of it on the ground."
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Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27 On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather anyway but they didn't find anything.
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And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
28 God said to Moses, "How long are you going to disobey my commands and not follow my instructions?
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And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29 Don't you see that God has given you the Sabbath? So on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. So, each of you, stay home. Don't leave home on the seventh day."
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See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30 So the people quit working on the seventh day.
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So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The Israelites named it manna (What is it?). It looked like coriander seed, whitish. And it tasted like a cracker with honey.
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And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32 Moses said, "This is God's command: 'Keep a two-quart jar of it, an omer, for future generations so they can see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness after I brought you out of Egypt.'"
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And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
33 Moses told Aaron, "Take a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Place it before God, keeping it safe for future generations."
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And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.
34 Aaron did what God commanded Moses. He set it aside before The Testimony to preserve it.
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As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35 The Israelites ate the manna for forty years until they arrived at the land where they would settle down. They ate manna until they reached the border into Canaan.
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And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
36 According to ancient measurements, an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.
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Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.