Exodus 16:11–21

¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹²“I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God.”

¹³So at evening quail ^acame 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. ^b16This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts ^cper 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, ^dthe 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. ^e19Moses 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 smelled. 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.