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. 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?” 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?” 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!” 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. 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. 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?”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 17:1 Lit their journeyings
  2. Exodus 17:1 Lit mouth
  3. Exodus 17:3 Lit the people
  4. Exodus 17:3 Lit me
  5. Exodus 17:3 Lit my
  6. Exodus 17:3 Lit my
  7. Exodus 17:7 I.e., test
  8. Exodus 17:7 I.e., quarrel

God Provides Water from a Rock(A)

17 The whole congregation of the Israelis set out from the desert[a] of Sin, traveling from place to place according to the command[b] of the Lord. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

The people quarreled with Moses: “Give us water to drink.”

Moses told them, “Why are you quarreling with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”

But the people were thirsty there for water, so they[c] complained against Moses: “Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”

So Moses cried out to the Lord: “What am I to do with these people? Just a little more and they’ll stone me.”

Then the Lord told Moses, “Go over in front 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. I’ll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock and water will come out of it, so the people can drink.” Moses did this in front of the elders of Israel.

He named the place Massah[d] and Meribah,[e] because the Israelis quarreled and tested the Lord by saying: “Is the Lord really among us or not?”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 17:1 Or wilderness
  2. Exodus 17:1 Lit. mouth
  3. Exodus 17:3 Lit. the people
  4. Exodus 17:7 The Heb. name Massah means Testing
  5. Exodus 17:7 The Heb. name Meribah means Quarreling