Exodus 16:12–36

¹²“I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³In the evening quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.^{* 14}When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.^{* 15}When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”^b For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.^{* 16}This is what the Lord has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer per person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.” ¹⁷The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. ¹⁸But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.^{* 19}And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.”^{* 20}But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it became wormy and rotten. And Moses was angry with them. ²¹Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed, but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

²²On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,^{* 23}he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.”^{* 24}So they put it aside until morning, just as Moses commanded them, and it did not rot, and there were no maggots in it.^{* 25}Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

²⁷On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. ²⁸The Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions?^{* 29}See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.” ³⁰So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹The Israelites called it manna; it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.^{* 32}Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations in order that they may see the food with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.” ³³And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.”^{* 34}Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the covenant, for safekeeping.^{* 35}The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.^{* 36}(An omer is a tenth of an ephah.)