Exodus 17
English Standard Version
Water from the Rock
17 (A)All the congregation of the people 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 (B)Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you (C)test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and (D)the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready (E)to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with (F)which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 (G)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place (H)Massah[a] and (I)Meribah,[b] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Israel Defeats Amalek
8 (J)Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to (K)Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with (L)the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So (M)Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and (N)Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses (O)held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and (P)Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And (Q)Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of (R)Joshua, that (S)I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses (T)built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne[c] of the Lord! (U)The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 17:7 Massah means testing
- Exodus 17:7 Meribah means quarreling
- Exodus 17:16 A slight change would yield upon the banner
Exodus 17
Easy-to-Read Version
Water From the Rock
17 The Israelites left the western Sinai desert.[a] They traveled all together from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they turned against Moses and started arguing with him. They said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses said to them, “Why have you turned against me? Why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But the people were very thirsty, so they continued complaining to Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here so that we, our children, and our cattle will all die without water?”
4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What can I do with these people? They are ready to kill me.”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go before the Israelites. Take some of the elders of the people with you. Carry your walking stick with you. This is the stick that you used when you hit the Nile River. 6 I will stand before you on a rock at Horeb.[b] Hit that rock with the walking stick and water will come out of it. Then the people can drink.”
Moses did these things and the elders of Israel saw it. 7 Moses named that place Meribah[c] and Massah,[d] because this was the place that the Israelites turned against him and tested the Lord. The people wanted to know if the Lord was with them or not.
War With the Amalekites
8 At Rephidim the Amalekites came and fought against the Israelites. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men and go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on the top of the hill and watch you. I will be holding the walking stick God gave me.”
10 Joshua obeyed Moses and went to fight the Amalekites the next day. At the same time Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 Any time Moses held his hands in the air, the men of Israel would start winning the fight. But when Moses put his hands down, the men of Israel began to lose the fight.
12 After some time, Moses’ arms became tired. So they put a large rock under Moses for him to sit on. Then Aaron and Hur held Moses’ hands in the air. Aaron was on one side of Moses and Hur was on the other side. They held his hands up like this until the sun went down. 13 So Joshua and his men defeated the Amalekites in this battle.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write about this battle. Write these things in a book so that people will remember what happened here. And be sure to tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites from the earth.”
15 Then Moses built an altar and named it, “The Lord is My Flag.” 16 Moses said, “I lifted my hands toward the Lord’s throne. So the Lord fought against the Amalekites, as he always has.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 17:1 western Sinai desert Literally, “desert of Sin.”
- Exodus 17:6 Horeb Another name for Mount Sinai.
- Exodus 17:7 Meribah This name means “argument” or “rebellion.”
- Exodus 17:7 Massah This name means “trial,” “temptation,” or “test.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International