Exodus 17
New American Standard Bible
Water in the Rock
17 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by [a]stages from the wilderness of (A)Sin, according to the [b]command of the Lord, and camped at (B)Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people (C)quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!” And Moses said to them, “(D)Why do you quarrel with me? (E)Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there; and [c]they (F)grumbled against Moses and said, “Why is it that you have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill [d]us and [e]our children and [f](G)our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What am I to do with this people? A (H)little more and they will stone me!” 5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of (I)the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which (J)you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at (K)Horeb; and (L)you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 Then he named the place [g](M)Massah and [h](N)Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they (O)tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
Miraculous Battle against Amalek
8 Then (P)Amalek came and fought against Israel at (Q)Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to (R)Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with (S)the staff of God in my hand.” 10 Joshua did just as Moses [i]told him, [j]and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and (T)Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 So it came about, when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed; but when he let his hand [k]down, Amalek prevailed. 12 And Moses’ hands were heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur (U)supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. So his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 And Joshua [l]defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(V)Write this in [m]a book as a memorial and [n]recite it to Joshua, [o]that (W)I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an (X)altar and named it (Y)The Lord is My Banner; 16 and he said, “[p](Z)Because the Lord has sworn, the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 17:1 Lit their journeyings
- Exodus 17:1 Lit mouth
- Exodus 17:3 Lit the people
- Exodus 17:3 Lit me
- Exodus 17:3 Lit my
- Exodus 17:3 Lit my
- Exodus 17:7 I.e., test
- Exodus 17:7 I.e., quarrel
- Exodus 17:10 Lit said to
- Exodus 17:10 Lit to fight
- Exodus 17:11 Lit rest
- Exodus 17:13 Lit weakened
- Exodus 17:14 Lit the book
- Exodus 17:14 Lit place it in the ears of
- Exodus 17:14 Or for
- Exodus 17:16 Or Because a hand is against the throne of the Lord; lit Because a hand upon the throne of Yah
Exodus 17
New Living Translation
Water from the Rock
17 At the Lord’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin[a] and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.
“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. 6 I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai.[b] Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.
7 Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?”
Israel Defeats the Amalekites
8 While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. 9 Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”
10 So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. 11 As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. 12 Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. 13 As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.
14 After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”). 16 He said, “They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now[c] the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
