Numbers 20:7-21

English Standard Version

⁷and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸^(A)“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So ^(B)you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” ⁹And Moses took the staff ^(C)from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

Moses Strikes the Rock

¹⁰Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, ^(D)“Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, ^(E)and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. ¹²And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because ^(F)you did not believe in me, ^(G)to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” ¹³^(H)These are the waters of Meribah,^[a] where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.

Edom Refuses Passage

¹⁴^(I)Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to ^(J)the king of Edom: “Thus says ^(K)your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: ¹⁵^(L)how our fathers went down to Egypt, ^(M)and we lived in Egypt a long time. ^(N)And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. ¹⁶And ^(O)when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and ^(P)sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷^(Q)Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, ^(R)or drink water from a well. 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 through your territory.” ¹⁸But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, ^(S)and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, ^(T)then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” ²⁰But he said, ^(U)“You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. ²¹Thus Edom ^(V)refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel ^(W)turned away from him.