August 4th, 2024, 18th Sunday in ordinary time.

A reading from the Book of Exodus.

The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

The Israelites said to them,

Would that we had died at the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt as we sat by our flesh pots and ate our fill of bread.

But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.

Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion. Thus will I test

them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not. I have heard the grumbling of the

Israelites. Tell them, in the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning

you shall have your fill of bread so that you may know that I, the Lord, am your God.

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.

In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface

of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.

On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another,

What is this?

For they did not know what it was.

But Moses told them,

This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

The Word of the Lord.

The Lord gave them bread from heaven. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

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