Exodus 17
New American Standard Bible
Water in the Rock
17 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by [a]stages from the wilderness of (A)Sin, according to the [b]command of the Lord, and camped at (B)Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people (C)quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!” And Moses said to them, “(D)Why do you quarrel with me? (E)Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there; and [c]they (F)grumbled against Moses and said, “Why is it that you have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill [d]us and [e]our children and [f](G)our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What am I to do with this people? A (H)little more and they will stone me!” 5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of (I)the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which (J)you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at (K)Horeb; and (L)you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 Then he named the place [g](M)Massah and [h](N)Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they (O)tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
Miraculous Battle against Amalek
8 Then (P)Amalek came and fought against Israel at (Q)Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to (R)Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with (S)the staff of God in my hand.” 10 Joshua did just as Moses [i]told him, [j]and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and (T)Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 So it came about, when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed; but when he let his hand [k]down, Amalek prevailed. 12 And Moses’ hands were heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur (U)supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. So his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 And Joshua [l]defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(V)Write this in [m]a book as a memorial and [n]recite it to Joshua, [o]that (W)I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an (X)altar and named it (Y)The Lord is My Banner; 16 and he said, “[p](Z)Because the Lord has sworn, the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 17:1 Lit their journeyings
- Exodus 17:1 Lit mouth
- Exodus 17:3 Lit the people
- Exodus 17:3 Lit me
- Exodus 17:3 Lit my
- Exodus 17:3 Lit my
- Exodus 17:7 I.e., test
- Exodus 17:7 I.e., quarrel
- Exodus 17:10 Lit said to
- Exodus 17:10 Lit to fight
- Exodus 17:11 Lit rest
- Exodus 17:13 Lit weakened
- Exodus 17:14 Lit the book
- Exodus 17:14 Lit place it in the ears of
- Exodus 17:14 Or for
- Exodus 17:16 Or Because a hand is against the throne of the Lord; lit Because a hand upon the throne of Yah
Exodus 17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Water from the Rock
17 From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.(A) 2 The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”(B) 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?”(C) 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do for this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”(D) 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go.(E) 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.(F) 7 He called the place Massah[a] and Meribah,[b] because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”(G)
Amalek Attacks Israel and Is Defeated
8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.(H) 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out; fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”(I) 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’s hands grew heavy, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on either side, so his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a remembrance in a book and recite it in the hearing of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”(J) 15 And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner. 16 He said, “A hand upon the banner of the Lord![c] The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Exodus 17
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
17 Then all the multitude of the children of Israel setting forward from the desert of Sin, by their mansions, according to the word of the Lord, encamped in Raphidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
2 And they chode with Moses, and said: Give us water, that we may drink. And Moses answered them: Why chide you with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord?
3 So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and murmured against Moses, saying: Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?
4 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more and they will stone me.
5 And the Lord said to Moses: Go before the people, and take with thee of the ancients of Israel: and take in thy hand the rod wherewith thou didst strike the river, and go.
6 Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock Horeb: and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. Moses did so before the ancients of Israel:
7 And he called the name of that place Temptation, because the chiding of the children of Israel, and for that they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord amongst us or not?
8 And Amalec came, and fought against Israel in Raphidim.
9 And Moses said to Josue: Choose out men: and go out and fight against Amalec: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill having the rod of God in my hand.
10 Josue did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalec; but Moses, and Aaron, and Hur went up upon the top of the hill.
11 And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame: but if he let them down a little, Amalec overcame.
12 And Moses' hands were heavy: so they took a stone, and put under him, and he sat on it: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands on both sides. And it came to pass that his hands were not weary until sunset.
13 And Josue put Amalec and his people to flight, by the edge of the sword.
14 And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a book, and deliver it to the ears of Josue: for I will destroy the memory of Amalec from under heaven.
15 And Moses built an altar: and called the name thereof, The Lord my exaltation, saying:
16 Because the hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of the Lord shall be against Amalec, from generation to generation.
Exodus 17
The Message
17 1-2 Directed by God, the whole company of Israel moved on by stages from the Wilderness of Sin. They set camp at Rephidim. And there wasn’t a drop of water for the people to drink. The people took Moses to task: “Give us water to drink.” But Moses said, “Why pester me? Why are you testing God?”
3 But the people were thirsty for water there. They complained to Moses, “Why did you take us from Egypt and drag us out here with our children and animals to die of thirst?”
4 Moses cried out in prayer to God, “What can I do with these people? Any minute now they’ll kill me!”
5-6 God said to Moses, “Go on out ahead of the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel. Take the staff you used to strike the Nile. And go. I’m going to be present before you there on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will gush out of it and the people will drink.”
6-7 Moses did what he said, with the elders of Israel right there watching. He named the place Massah (Testing-Place) and Meribah (Quarreling) because of the quarreling of the Israelites and because of their testing of God when they said, “Is God here with us, or not?”
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8-9 Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses ordered Joshua: “Select some men for us and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on top of the hill holding God’s staff.”
10-13 Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses’ hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle.
14 God said to Moses, “Write this up as a reminder to Joshua, to keep it before him, because I will most certainly wipe the very memory of Amalek off the face of the Earth.”
15-16 Moses built an altar and named it “God My Banner.” He said,
Salute God’s rule!
God at war with Amalek
Always and forever!
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson