Exodus 17
Amplified Bible
Water in the Rock
17 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel moved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so we may [have something to] drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you tempt the Lord and try His patience?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at [a]Horeb; there you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may [have something to] drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.(A) 7 He named the place [where this miracle occurred] Massah (test) and [b]Meribah (contention) because of the quarreling of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the [patience of the] Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
Amalek Fought
8 Then [c]Amalek [and his people] came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to [d]Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek [and his people]. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses said, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and [e]Hur went up to the hilltop. 11 Now when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered his hand [due to fatigue], Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy and he grew tired. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side; so it was that his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 So Joshua overwhelmed and defeated [f]Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this in the book as a memorial and [g]recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek [and his people] from under heaven.”(B) 15 And Moses built an altar and named it [h]The Lord Is My Banner; 16 saying, “The Lord has sworn [an oath]; the Lord will have war against [the people of] Amalek from generation to generation.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 17:6 Horeb may refer to the mountain range of which Sinai is an individual mountain.
- Exodus 17:7 A similar incident occurred when the Israelites were in the Wilderness of Zin at Meribah-kadesh (Num 20:8-13; Deut 32:50-52). On that occasion Moses disobeyed God’s specific instruction and paid a terrible price for his action.
- Exodus 17:8 These were a group of nomads descended from Amalek, a grandson of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother.
- Exodus 17:9 Joshua, leader of the tribe of Ephraim, was one of the great warriors of the OT and was an attendant to and the successor of Moses.
- Exodus 17:10 According to Josephus, Hur was the husband of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron.
- Exodus 17:13 These nomadic people were the descendants of Esau.
- Exodus 17:14 Lit put in the ears of.
- Exodus 17:15 Heb YHWH (Yahweh)-Nissi.
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.”
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. 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.
