Water from the Rock

17 ^(A)All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ^2 (B)Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ^(C)test the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and ^(D)the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready ^(E)to stone me.” ⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with ^(F)which you struck the Nile, and go. ^6 (G)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the name of the place ^(H)Massah^[a] and ^(I)Meribah,^[b] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The Death of Miriam

20 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came ^(A)into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And ^(B)Miriam died there and was buried there.

The Waters of Meribah

^2 (C)Now there was no water for the congregation. ^(D)And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³ And the people ^(E)quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished ^(F)when our brothers perished before the Lord! ⁴ Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? ⁵ And ^(G)why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and ^(H)fell on their faces. ^(I)And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, ⁷ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^8 (J)“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So ^(K)you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” ⁹ And Moses took the staff ^(L)from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

Moses Strikes the Rock

¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, ^(M)“Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, ^(N)and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. ¹² And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because ^(O)you did not believe in me, ^(P)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 (Q)These are the waters of Meribah,^[a] where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.