Exodus 16:13–26

¹³So at evening quail^e came and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. ¹⁴When the layer of dew evaporated, there were fine flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” because they didn’t know what it was.

Moses told them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.^{f 16}This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts^A per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’ ”

¹⁷So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. ¹⁸When they measured it by quarts,^B the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat.^{g 19}Moses said to them, “No one is to let any of it remain until morning.” ²⁰But they didn’t listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. Therefore Moses was angry with them.

²¹They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. ²²On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts^C apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. ²³He told them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath^h to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning.’ ”

²⁴So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn’t stink or have maggots in it. ²⁵“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find any in the field. ²⁶For six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”