Study Desk

"I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. So tell them, ‘Tonight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know you can trust the Lord , your God.'"

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

So that is what the Israelites did. Some people gathered a large amount, some people gathered a little.

On Friday the people gathered twice as much food—two baskets for every person. So all the leaders of the people came and told this to Moses.

So the people saved the rest of the food for the next day, as Moses had commanded, and none of the food spoiled or had worms in it.

On Saturday, Moses told the people, "Today is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the Lord . So none of you should be out in the fields. Eat the food you gathered yesterday.

You should gather the food for six days. But the seventh day of the week is a day of rest—so there will not be any of the special food on the ground."

Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for you. So on Friday he will give you enough food for two days. Then, on the Sabbath, each of you should sit down and relax. Stay where you are."

So the people rested on the Sabbath.

So Moses told Aaron, "Take a jar and fill it with a full basket of manna. Save this manna to put before the Lord . Save it for our descendants."

So they turned against Moses and started arguing with him. They said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why have you turned against me? Why are you testing the Lord ?"

But the people were very thirsty, so they continued complaining to Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here so that we, our children, and our cattle will all die without water?"

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

So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some men and go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on the top of the hill and watch you. I will be holding the walking stick God gave me."

After some time, Moses' arms became tired. So they put a large rock under Moses for him to sit on. Then Aaron and Hur held Moses' hands in the air. Aaron was on one side of Moses and Hur was on the other side. They held his hands up like this until the sun went down.

So Joshua and his men defeated the Amalekites in this battle.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write about this battle. Write these things in a book so that people will remember what happened here. And be sure to tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites from the earth."

Moses said, "I lifted my hands toward the Lord 's throne. So the Lord fought against the Amalekites, as he always has."

So Jethro went to Moses while Moses was camped near the mountain of God. Jethro brought Moses' wife, Zipporah, with him. (Zipporah was not with Moses, because Moses had sent her home.)

So Jethro went to Moses while Moses was camped in the desert near the mountain of God. Moses' wife and his two sons were with Jethro.