Water from the Rock

17 The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.^(A)

¹² They put him in custody^(A) until the Lord’s decision^(B) could be made clear to them.

¹⁶ So Moses registered them in obedience to the Lord as he had been commanded:

¹⁸ At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at the Lord’s command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they camped.

¹⁸ But Balaam responded to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the command of the Lord my God to do anything small or great.

²¹ He will stand before the priest Eleazar who will consult the Lord for him with the decision of the Urim.^(A) He and all the Israelites with him, even the entire community, will go out and come back in at his command.”

²⁶ “But you were not willing to go up. You rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.

³ He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.^(A)

¹⁶ This is what the Lord of Armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you. They speak visions from their own minds,^(A) not from the Lord’s mouth.^(B)