Moses’ Error at Kadesh^(A)

20 Then^(B) the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in ^(C)Kadesh; and ^(D)Miriam died there and was buried there.

^2 (E)Now there was no water for the congregation; ^(F)so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. ³ And the people ^(G)contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died ^(H)when our brethren died before the Lord! ^4 (I)Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? ⁵ And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and ^(J)they ^[a]fell on their faces. And ^(K)the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^8 (L)“Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus ^(M)you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” ⁹ So Moses took the rod ^(N)from before the Lord as He commanded him.

¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, ^(O)“Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; ^(P)and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

¹² Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because ^(Q)you did not believe Me, to ^(R)hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

^13 (S)This was the water of ^[b]Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and He was hallowed among them.

Passage Through Edom Refused

^14 (T)Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of ^(U)Edom. ^(V)“Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

²⁴ “Aaron shall ^[a]be ^(A)gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah.

¹⁹ “The south side, toward the ^[a]South, shall be from Tamar to ^(A)the waters of ^[b]Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South.

¹² then you shall cut off her hand; ^(A)your eye shall not pity her.

^13 (B)“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. ¹⁴ You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. ¹⁵ You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, ^(C)that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ For ^(D)all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are ^[a]an abomination to the Lord your God.

Destroy the Amalekites

^17 (E)“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, ¹⁸ how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he ^(F)did not fear God. ¹⁹ Therefore it shall be, ^(G)when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will ^(H)blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

^44 (A)But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as ^(B)Hormah.

¹⁶ for he said, “Because ^[a]the Lord has ^(A)sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

^29 (A)The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

Canaanites Defeated at Hormah

21 The ^(A)king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. ^2 (B)So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then ^(C)I will utterly destroy their cities.” ³ And the Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called ^[a]Hormah.