Exodus 15:22-27

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Bitter Water Made Sweet

²² Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea,^[a] and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah.^{[b] 24} And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ He cried out to the Lord; and the Lord showed him a piece of wood;^[c] he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord^[d] made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he put them to the test. ²⁶ He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they camped there by the water.