Moses Disobeys God

20 In the first month all the ·people [^Lsons; ^Tchildren] of Israel, the community [congregation; assembly] arrived at the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam [^CMoses’ sister; Ex. 15:20–21; Num. 12:1–13] died and was buried. ² There was no water for the ·people [community; congregation; assembly], so they ·came together [assembled] against Moses and Aaron. ³ They ·argued with [contended with; brought a case against] Moses and said, “We should have died in front of the Lord as our brothers did. ⁴ Why did you bring the Lord’s ·people [community; congregation; assembly] into this ·desert [wilderness]? Are we and our animals to die here? ⁵ Why did you bring us from Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain, figs, grapevines, or pomegranates, and there’s no water to drink!”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron left the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] and went to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. There they ·bowed facedown [^Lfell on their faces], and the glory of the Lord [^Chis manifest presence] appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “Take your ·walking stick [staff], and you and your brother Aaron should gather the ·people [community; congregation; assembly]. Speak to that rock in front of them so that its water will flow from it. When you bring the water out from that rock, give it to the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] and their animals.”

⁹ So Moses took the ·stick [staff] from in front of the Lord, as he had said. ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron ·gathered [assembled] the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] in front of the rock, and Moses said, “Now listen to me, you ·who turn against God [^Lrebels]! Do you want us [^Crather than God] to bring water out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses lifted his hand and hit the rock twice with his ·stick [staff; ^Che was supposed to speak to it, 20:8]. Water began pouring out, and the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] and their animals drank it.

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not ·believe [trust] me, and because you did not ·honor me as holy [show my holiness] before the ·people [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel], you will not lead ·them [^Lthis community; congregation; assembly] into the land I will give them [20:22–29; Deut. 34:1–12].”

¹³ These are the waters of Meribah [^C“Argument”], where the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] ·argued with [contended with; brought a case against] the Lord and where he showed them he was holy.

Edom Will Not Let Israel Pass

¹⁴ From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom. He said, “Your brothers, the Israelites, say to you: You know about all the ·troubles [hardship] we have had, ¹⁵ how our ·ancestors [fathers] went down into Egypt and we lived there for many years. The people of Egypt ·were cruel to [oppressed] us and our ·ancestors [fathers], ¹⁶ but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard ·us [^Lour voice] and sent us an ·angel [messenger] to bring us out of Egypt.

“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your ·land [boundaries]. ¹⁷ Please let us pass through your country. We will not ·touch [pass through] any fields of grain or vineyards, and will not drink water from the wells. We will travel only along the ·king’s road [King’s Highway; ^Ca north-south international highway], not turning right or left until we have passed through your ·country [boundaries].”

¹⁸ But the king of Edom answered: “You may not pass through here. If you try, I will come and meet you with swords.”

¹⁹ The ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] answered: “We will go along the ·main road [highway], and if we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to walk through. That’s all.”

²⁰ But he answered: “You may not pass through here.”

Then the Edomites went out to meet the Israelites with a large and powerful army. ²¹ The Edomites refused to let them pass through their ·country [boundaries], so the Israelites turned back.

Aaron Dies

²² ·All the Israelites [^LThe sons/^Tchildren of Israel, all the community/assembly/congregation] moved from Kadesh to Mount Hor, ²³ near the border of Edom. There the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴ “Aaron will ·die [^Lbe gathered to his people]. He will not enter the land that I’m giving to the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel], because you both ·acted [rebelled] against my command at the waters of Meribah [20:1–13]. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son Eleazar up on Mount Hor, ²⁶ and take off Aaron’s special clothes and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die there; he will ·join his people [^Lbe gathered].”

²⁷ Moses obeyed the Lord’s command. They climbed up Mount Hor, and all the ·people [community; assembly; congregation] saw them go. ²⁸ Moses took off Aaron’s clothes and put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. Then Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came back down the mountain, ²⁹ and when all the ·people [community; assembly; congregation] learned that Aaron was dead, ·everyone in [^Lall the house of] Israel cried for him for thirty days.