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, ^15 (W)how our fathers went down to Egypt, ^(X)and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, ^(Y)and the Egyptians ^[c]afflicted us and our fathers. ^16 (Z)When we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and ^(AA)sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. ¹⁷ Please ^(AB)let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; 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.’ ”

¹⁸ Then ^(AC)Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.”

¹⁹ So the children of Israel said to him, “We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, ^(AD)then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”

²⁰ Then he said, ^(AE)“You shall not pass through.” So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand. ²¹ Thus Edom ^(AF)refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel ^(AG)turned away from him.

Death of Aaron

²² Now the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from ^(AH)Kadesh ^(AI)and came to Mount Hor. ²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying: ²⁴ “Aaron shall ^[d]be ^(AJ)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. ^25 (AK)Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there.” ²⁷ So Moses did just as the Lord commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ^28 (AL)Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and ^(AM)Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron ^(AN)thirty days.

Canaanites Defeated at Hormah

21 The ^(AO)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 (AP)So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then ^(AQ)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 ^[e]Hormah.

The Bronze Serpent

⁴ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to ^(AR)go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very ^[f]discouraged on the way. ⁵ And the people ^(AS)spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul ^[g]loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶ So ^(AT)the Lord sent ^(AU)fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

^7 (AV)Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have ^(AW)sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; ^(AX)pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(AY)“Make a ^(AZ)fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” ⁹ So ^(BA)Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

^13 (A)No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man ^[a]who is in heaven. ^14 (B)And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so ^(C)must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever ^(D)believes in Him should ^[b]not perish but ^(E)have eternal life. ^16 (F)For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten ^(G)Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ^17 (H)For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

^18 (I)“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

^4 (A)He removed the ^[a]high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the ^[b]wooden image and broke in pieces the ^(B)bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it ^[c]Nehushtan.

The Loveless Church

2 “To the ^[a]angel of the church of Ephesus write,

‘These things says ^(A)He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, ^(B)who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: ^2 (C)“I know your works, your labor, your ^[b]patience, and that you cannot ^[c]bear those who are evil. And ^(D)you have tested those ^(E)who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have ^(F)not become weary. ⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, ^(G)or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.