Exodus 16:11–21

¹¹The Lord said to Moses, ¹²“I have heard the grumbling^e of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”^f

¹³That evening quail^g came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew^h around the camp. ¹⁴When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frostⁱ on the ground appeared on the desert floor. ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know^j what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread^k the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer^al for each person you have in your tent.’ ”

¹⁷The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. ¹⁸And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.^m Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

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

²⁰However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.^o So Moses was angry^p with them.

²¹Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.