8. Then Moses added, “The lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the lord, not against us.”
9. Then Moses said to Aaron, “Announce this to the entire community of Israel: ‘Present yourselves before the lord, for he has heard your complaining.’”
10. And as Aaron spoke to the whole community of Israel, they looked out toward the wilderness. There they could see the awesome glory of the lord in the cloud.
11. Then the lord said to Moses,
12. “I have heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the lord your God.’”
13. That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew.
14. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground.
15. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was.And Moses told them, “It is the food the lord has given you to eat.
16. These are the lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.”
17. So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.
18. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
19. Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.”
20. But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.
21. After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared.
22. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation.