Numbers 20:1-16
New American Standard Bible
2There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled against Moses and Aaron.
3Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, 'If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!
4Why then have you brought the Lord’S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die here?
5Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!'
6Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them;
7then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
9So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him;
10and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, 'Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?'
11Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.
12But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.'
13Those were called the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.
14From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom to say, 'This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You know all the hardship that has overtaken us;
15that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly.
16But when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.
King James Version
2And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!
4And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
5And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
6And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.
7And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
8Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
9And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
10And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
13This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.
14And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
15How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
16And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
Christian Standard Bible
2There was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron.
3The people quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord.
4Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?
5Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!"
6Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
7The Lord spoke to Moses,
8"Take the staff and assemble the community. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will yield its water. You will bring out water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock."
9So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence just as he had commanded him.
10Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?"
11Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that abundant water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them."
13These are the Waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and he demonstrated his holiness to them.
14Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, "This is what your brother Israel says, ‘You know all the hardships that have overtaken us.
15Our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt many years, but the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly.
16When we cried out to the Lord, he heard our plea, and sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the border of your territory.
New Living Translation
2There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron.
3The people blamed Moses and said, 'If only we had died in the Lord’s presence with our brothers!
4Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord’s people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock?
5Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place? This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink!'
6Moses and Aaron turned away from the people and went to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where they fell face down on the ground. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to them,
7and the Lord said to Moses,
8You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.'
9So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord.
10Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. 'Listen, you rebels!' he shouted. 'Must we bring you water from this rock?'
11Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.
12But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!'
13This place was known as the waters of Meribah (which means 'arguing') because there the people of Israel argued with the Lord, and there he demonstrated his holiness among them.
14While Moses was at Kadesh, he sent ambassadors to the king of Edom with this message: 'This is what your relatives, the people of Israel, say: You know all the hardships we have been through.
15Our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived there a long time, and we and our ancestors were brutally mistreated by the Egyptians.
16But when we cried out to the Lord, he heard us and sent an angel who brought us out of Egypt. Now we are camped at Kadesh, a town on the border of your land.
English Standard Version
2Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!
4Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?
5And 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."
6Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them,
7and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8"Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle."
9And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
10Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"
11And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
12And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, 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."
13These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.
14Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met:
15how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers.
16And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.
New International Version
2Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.
3They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord!
4Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here?
5Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!"
6Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
7The Lord said to Moses,
8"Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."
9So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him.
10He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"
11Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
New King James Version
2Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.
3And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!
4Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here?
5And 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.”
6So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
7Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8“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 you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.”
9So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.
10And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”
11Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
14Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us,
15how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.
16When we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border.
