Biblical Text

Then Moses led Israel into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. So the people grumbled against Moses. Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” The whole Israelite community came to the Desert of Sin. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread.” That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. Each one is to gather as much as he needs.” The Israelites did as they were told. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much. Moses said to them, “Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD.” So the people rested on the seventh day. The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they reached the border of Canaan.