Session 3 · Care

Exodus 16:11-35

¹¹and the Lord spoke to Moses,

¹²“I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘During the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be satisfied with bread, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³In the evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was all around the camp.

¹⁴When the layer of dew had evaporated, there on the surface of the wilderness was a thin flaky substance, thin like frost on the earth.

¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you for food.

¹⁶“This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Each person is to gather from it what he can eat, an omer per person according to the number of your people; each one will pick it up for whoever lives in his tent.’”

¹⁷The Israelites did so, and they gathered—some more, some less.

¹⁸When they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.

¹⁹Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”

²⁰But they did not listen to Moses; some kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them.

²¹So they gathered it each morning, each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt.

²²And on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers per person; and all the leaders of the community came and told Moses.

²³He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Whatever you want to bake, bake today; whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”

²⁴So they put it aside until the morning, just as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.

²⁵Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the area.

²⁶Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

²⁷On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they found nothing.

²⁸So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to obey my commandments and my instructions?

²⁹See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why He is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”

³⁰So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹The house of Israel called its name “manna.” It was like coriander seed and was white, and it tasted like wafers with honey.

³²Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept for generations to come, so that they may see the food I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’”

³³Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put in it an omer full of manna, and place it before the Lord to be kept for generations to come.”

³⁴Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the ark of the testimony for safekeeping.

³⁵Now the Israelites ate manna 40 years, until they came to a land that was inhabited; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

Psalm 103:1-10

¹By David. Praise the Lord, O my soul. With all that is within me, praise His holy name.

²Praise the Lord, O my soul. Do not forget all His kind deeds.

³He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases,

⁴who delivers your life from the Pit, who crowns you with His loyal love and compassion,

⁵who satisfies your life with good things, so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

⁶The Lord does what is fair, and executes justice for all the oppressed.

⁷The Lord revealed His faithful acts to Moses, His deeds to the Israelites.

⁸The Lord is compassionate and merciful; He is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.

⁹He does not always accuse and does not stay angry.

¹⁰He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; He does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.

Exodus 16:11-35

¹¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

¹²“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’”

¹³In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp.

¹⁴When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground.

¹⁵When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.”

¹⁶This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: “Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent.”

¹⁷The children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less.

¹⁸When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating.

¹⁹Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.”

²⁰Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them.

²¹They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted.

²²On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

²³He said to them, “This is that which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’”

²⁴They laid it up until the morning, as Moses asked, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it.

²⁵Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not find it in the field.

²⁶Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.”

²⁷On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none.

²⁸Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

²⁹Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore He gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”

³⁰So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹The house of Israel called its name Manna, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey.

³²Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout 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.’”

³³Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout your generations.”

³⁴As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

³⁵The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.

Psalm 103:1-10

¹Praise Yahweh, my soul! All that is within me, praise His holy name!

²Praise Yahweh, my soul, and don’t forget all His benefits;

³who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases;

⁴who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies;

⁵who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶Yahweh executes righteous acts, and justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the children of Israel.

⁸Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.

⁹He will not always accuse; neither will He stay angry forever.

¹⁰He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.

Exodus 16:11-35

Psalm 103:1-10