Numbers 20
King James Version
20 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!
4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.
7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.
14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
16 And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.
18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.
19 And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet.
20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.
22 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.
23 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,
24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.
25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:
26 And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
27 And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.
29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
Numbers 20
New American Standard Bible
Death of Miriam
20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the (A)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.
2 (B)There was no water for the congregation, (C)and they assembled against Moses and Aaron. 3 (D)Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “(E)If only we had perished (F)when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 (G)Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die [a]here? 5 Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? (H)It is not a place of [b]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and (I)fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
The Waters of Meribah
8 “Take (J)the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff (K)from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “(L)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and (M)water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “(N)Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 Those were called the waters of [c](O)Meribah, [d]because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.
14 From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to (P)the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You (Q)know all the hardship that has [e]overtaken us; 15 that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. 16 But (R)when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent (S)an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17 Please (T)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”
18 (U)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through [f]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” 19 Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and (V)my livestock do drink any of your water, (W)then I will [g]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, [h]nothing more.” 20 But he said, “(X)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy [i]force and a strong hand. 21 (Y)So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; (Z)then Israel turned away from him.
22 Now when they set out from (AA)Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
Death of Aaron
23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at (AB)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24 “Aaron will be (AC)gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because (AD)you rebelled against My [j]command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and his son (AE)Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor. 26 Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be (AF)gathered to his people and will die there.” 27 So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and (AG)put them on his son Eleazar, (AH)Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty (AI)days.
Footnotes
- Numbers 20:4 Lit there
- Numbers 20:5 Lit seed
- Numbers 20:13 I.e., contention
- Numbers 20:13 Or where
- Numbers 20:14 Lit found
- Numbers 20:18 Lit me
- Numbers 20:19 Lit give
- Numbers 20:19 Or no great thing
- Numbers 20:20 Lit people
- Numbers 20:24 Lit mouth
Numbers 20
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
20 And the Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month. And the people dwelt in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.
2 Now there was no water for the congregation, and they assembled together against Moses and Aaron.
3 And the people contended with Moses, and said, Would that we had died when our brethren died [in the plague] before the Lord!(A)
4 And why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, we and our livestock?
5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place? It is no place of grain or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates. And there is no water to drink.
6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
7 And the Lord said to Moses,
8 Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to give forth its water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.
9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation before the rock and Moses said to them, Hear now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he smote the rock [a]twice. And the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in (rely on, cling to) Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Israelites, you therefore [b]shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.(B)
13 These are the waters of Meribah [strife], where the Israelites contended with the Lord and He showed Himself holy among them.
14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying, Thus says your kinsman Israel: You know all the adversity and birth pangs that have come upon us [as a nation]:
15 How our fathers went down to Egypt; we dwelt there a long time, and the Egyptians dealt evilly with us and our fathers.
16 But when we cried to the Lord, He heard us and sent an angel and brought us forth out of Egypt. Now behold, we are in Kadesh, a city on your country’s edge.
17 Let us pass, I pray you, through your country. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink of the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed your borders.
18 But Edom said to him, You shall not go through, lest I come out against you with the sword.
19 And the Israelites said to him, We will go by the highway, and if I and my livestock drink of your water, I will pay for it. Only let me pass through on foot, nothing else.
20 But Edom said, You shall not go through. And Edom came out against Israel with many people and a strong hand.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, [c]so Israel turned away from him.
22 They journeyed from Kadesh, and the Israelites, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
23 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom,
24 Aaron shall be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter the land which I have given to the Israelites, because you both rebelled against My instructions at the waters of Meribah.
25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor.
26 Strip Aaron of his vestments and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.
27 And Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his [priestly] garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the mountain top; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept and mourned for him thirty days, all the house of Israel.
Footnotes
- Numbers 20:11 “And the Rock was Christ,” as I Cor. 10:4 explains. Once smitten at Rephidim (Exod. 17:6ff.), He did not need to be smitten, crucified, again. To smite the rock twice was to imply that Christ’s death on the cross was not effectual or sufficient for time and eternity.
- Numbers 20:12 Possibly Moses was not aware of the significance of what he had been ordered to do, but nevertheless God held him responsible for not obeying Him exactly. Obedience to His will is vitally important, whether we understand His purpose or not. The motto “God’s will: nothing more; nothing less; nothing else; at any cost” would have been priceless to Moses and Aaron that day, if they had only followed it.
- Numbers 20:21 Israel (Jacob’s offspring) did not fight Edom, the offspring of Jacob’s brother Esau, because of the Lord’s warning, later conveyed in definite instructions (Deut. 23:7). But what had begun as only a quarrel between twin brothers (Gen. 27:41) had now been passed on for generations and was to cost countless lives, extending throughout the Old Testament and into the New, where Herod, remotely related to Esau, tried to take the life of the Babe of Bethlehem, a descendant of Jacob. “See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze!” (James 3:5).
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