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Water from the Rock

17 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by [a]stages from the wilderness of (A)Sin, according to the [b]command of Yahweh, and they camped at (B)Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people (C)contended with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “(D)Why do you contend with me? (E)Why do you test Yahweh?” But the people thirsted there for water; and [c]they (F)grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to put [d]us and [e]our children and [f](G)our livestock to death with thirst?” So Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A (H)little more and they will stone me.” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of (I)the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which (J)you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at (K)Horeb; and (L)you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he named the place [g](M)Massah and [h](N)Meribah because of the contending of the sons of Israel, and because they (O)tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us or not?”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 17:1 Lit their journeyings
  2. Exodus 17:1 Lit mouth
  3. Exodus 17:3 Lit the people
  4. Exodus 17:3 Lit me
  5. Exodus 17:3 Lit my
  6. Exodus 17:3 Lit my
  7. Exodus 17:7 Lit test
  8. Exodus 17:7 Lit quarrel

God Provides Water from a Rock(A)

17 The whole congregation of the Israelis set out from the desert[a] of Sin, traveling from place to place according to the command[b] of the Lord. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

The people quarreled with Moses: “Give us water to drink.”

Moses told them, “Why are you quarreling with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”

But the people were thirsty there for water, so they[c] complained against Moses: “Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”

So Moses cried out to the Lord: “What am I to do with these people? Just a little more and they’ll stone me.”

Then the Lord told Moses, “Go over in front of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I’ll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock and water will come out of it, so the people can drink.” Moses did this in front of the elders of Israel.

He named the place Massah[d] and Meribah,[e] because the Israelis quarreled and tested the Lord by saying: “Is the Lord really among us or not?”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 17:1 Or wilderness
  2. Exodus 17:1 Lit. mouth
  3. Exodus 17:3 Lit. the people
  4. Exodus 17:7 The Heb. name Massah means Testing
  5. Exodus 17:7 The Heb. name Meribah means Quarreling