Bitter Waters Made Sweet

22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of wShur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no xwater. 23 Now when they came to yMarah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called 4Marah. 24 And the people zcomplained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. aWhen he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.

There He bmade a statute and an 5ordinance for them, and there cHe tested them, 26 and said, d“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the ediseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord fwho heals you.”

27 gThen they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.

Bread from Heaven

16 And they ajourneyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and bSinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel ccomplained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, d“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ewhen we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! 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 fbread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather 1a certain quota every day, that I may gtest them, whether they will hwalk in My law or not. 5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and iit shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, j“At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you shall see kthe glory of the Lord; for He lhears your complaints against the Lord. But mwhat are we, that you complain against us?” 8 Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but nagainst the Lord.”

9 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, o‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” 10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord pappeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 q“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, r‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and sin the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 So it was that tquails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning uthe dew lay all around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was va small round wsubstance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, x“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it yaccording to each one’s need, one zomer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they measured it by omers, ahe who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. 19 And Moses said, “Let no one bleave any of it till morning.” 20 Notwithstanding they did not 2heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is ca Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not dstink, nor were there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 eSix days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long fdo you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29 See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 And the house of Israel called its name 3Manna. And git was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for 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 And Moses said to Aaron, h“Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up ibefore the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel jate manna kforty years, luntil they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.

Water from the Rock

17 Then aall the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of bSin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to cdrink. 2 dTherefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.”

So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you etempt the Lord?”

3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people fcomplained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our glivestock with thirst?”

4 So Moses hcried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to istone 1me!”

5 And the Lord said to Moses, j“Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which kyou struck the river, and go. 6 lBehold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 So he called the name of the place mMassah 2and 3Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they 4tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Victory Over the Amalekites

8 nNow Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with othe rod of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses pheld up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands became 5heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, q“Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that rI will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, 6The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; 16 for he said, “Because 7the Lord has ssworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Jethro’s Advice

18 And aJethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that bGod had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took cZipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3 with her dtwo sons, of whom the name of one was 1Gershom (for he said, e“I have been a 2stranger in a foreign land”) 4 and the name of the other was 3Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my fhelp, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”); 5 and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at gthe mountain of God. 6 Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”

7 So Moses hwent out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and ikissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent. 8 And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had jdelivered them. 9 Then Jethro rejoiced for all the kgood which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 And Jethro said, l“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is mgreater than all the gods; nfor in the very thing in which they 4behaved oproudly, He was above them.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, 5took a burnt poffering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel qto eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

13 And so it was, on the next day, that Moses rsat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. 14 So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone 6sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”

15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because sthe people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have ta 7difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

17 So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. 18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; uyou are not able to perform it by yourself. 19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you 8counsel, and God will be with you: Stand vbefore God for the people, so that you may wbring the difficulties to God. 20 And you shall xteach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and ythe work they must do. 21 Moreover you shall select from all the people zable men, such as afear God, bmen of truth, chating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. dThen it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for ethey will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their fplace in peace.”

24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And gMoses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 So they judged the people at all times; the hhard 9cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and ihe went his way to his own land.