¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.^(A) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water^(B) welling up to eternal life.”^(C)

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty^(D) and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

⁸ The child grew and was weaned,^(A) and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. ⁹ But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham^(B) was mocking,^{(C) 10} and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman^(D) and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”^(E)

¹¹ The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.^{(F) 12} But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring^[a] will be reckoned.^{(G) 13} I will make the son of the slave into a nation^(H) also, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴ Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar.^(I) He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.^(J)

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she^[b] began to sob.^(K)

¹⁷ God heard the boy crying,^(L) and the angel of God^(M) called to Hagar from heaven^(N) and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid;^(O) God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. ¹⁸ Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.^(P)”

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes^(Q) and she saw a well of water.^(R) So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy^(S) as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. ²¹ While he was living in the Desert of Paran,^(T) his mother got a wife for him^(U) from Egypt.

¹⁷ So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar,^(A) where he settled. ¹⁸ Isaac reopened the wells^(B) that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. ²⁰ But the herders of Gerar quarreled^(C) with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!”^(D) So he named the well Esek,^[a] because they disputed with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, but they quarreled^(E) over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.^{[b] 22} He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth,^[c](F) saying, “Now the Lord has given us room^(G) and we will flourish^(H) in the land.”

²³ From there he went up to Beersheba.^{(I) 24} That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham.^(J) Do not be afraid,^(K) for I am with you;^(L) I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants^(M) for the sake of my servant Abraham.”^(N)

²⁵ Isaac built an altar^(O) there and called on the name of the Lord.^(P) There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.^(Q)

²⁶ Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.^{(R) 27} Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?^(S)”

²⁸ They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you;^(T) so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty^(U) with you ²⁹ that you will do us no harm,^(V) just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”^(W)

³⁰ Isaac then made a feast^(X) for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ Early the next morning the men swore an oath^(Y) to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

³² That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well^(Z) they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!”

The Waters of Marah and Elim

²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert^(A) of Shur.^(B) For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.^{(C) 23} When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.^[a](D)) ²⁴ So the people grumbled^(E) against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”^(F)

²⁵ Then Moses cried out^(G) to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw^(H) it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.^{(I) 26} He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep^(J) all his decrees,^(K) I will not bring on you any of the diseases^(L) I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals^(M) you.”

²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped^(N) there near the water.

Water From the Rock

17 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin,^(A) traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim,^(B) but there was no water^(C) for the people to drink. ² So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water^(D) to drink.”^(E)

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”^(F)

³ But the people were thirsty^(G) for water there, and they grumbled^(H) against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die^(I) of thirst?”

⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone^(J) me.”

⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff^(K) with which you struck the Nile,^(L) and go. ⁶ I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.^(M) Strike^(N) the rock, and water^(O) will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the place Massah^[a](P) and Meribah^[b](Q) because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Water From the Rock

20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin,^(A) and they stayed at Kadesh.^(B) There Miriam^(C) died and was buried.

² Now there was no water^(D) for the community,^(E) and the people gathered in opposition^(F) to Moses and Aaron. ³ They quarreled^(G) with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead^(H) before the Lord!^{(I) 4} Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness,^(J) that we and our livestock should die here?^{(K) 5} Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.^(L) And there is no water to drink!^(M)”

⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting^(N) and fell facedown,^(O) and the glory of the Lord^(P) appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “Take the staff,^(Q) and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.^(R) You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the staff^(S) from the Lord’s presence,^(T) just as he commanded him. ¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the assembly together^(U) in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”^{(V) 11} Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water^(W) gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy^(X) in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”^(Y)

¹³ These were the waters of Meribah,^[a](Z) where the Israelites quarreled^(AA) with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.^(AB)

The Bronze Snake

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor^(A) along the route to the Red Sea,^[a](B) to go around Edom.^(C) But the people grew impatient on the way;^{(D) 5} they spoke against God^(E) and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt^(F) to die in the wilderness?^(G) There is no bread! There is no water!^(H) And we detest this miserable food!”^(I)

⁶ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes^(J) among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.^{(K) 7} The people came to Moses^(L) and said, “We sinned^(M) when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord^(N) will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed^(O) for the people.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole;^(P) anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake^(Q) and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.^(R)

The Journey to Moab

¹⁰ The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.^{(S) 11} Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab^(T) toward the sunrise. ¹² From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.^{(U) 13} They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon^(V), which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.^{(W) 14} That is why the Book of the Wars^(X) of the Lord says:

¹⁶ From there they continued on to Beer,^(Z) the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:^(AA)

Then they went from the wilderness to Mattanah, ¹⁹ from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah^(AB) overlooks the wasteland.