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Numbers 20
Legacy Standard Bible
Numbers 20
Legacy Standard Bible
No Water for the Congregation
20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the (A)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
2 (B)Now there was no water for the congregation, (C)and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. 3 (D)The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “(E)If only we had breathed our last (F)when our brothers breathed their last before Yahweh! 4 (G)Why then have you brought the assembly of Yahweh into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die [a]here? 5 And why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this evil place? (H)It is not a place of [b]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and (I)fell on their faces. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared to them; 7 and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take (J)the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”
Moses Strikes the Rock
9 So Moses took the rod (K)from before Yahweh, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “(L)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised high his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and (M)water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. 12 But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “(N)Because you did not believe Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 Those were the waters of [c](O)Meribah [d]because the sons of Israel contended with Yahweh, and He proved Himself holy among them.
Edom Refuses Passage
14 From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to (P)the king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You (Q)know all the hardship that has befallen us, 15 that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. 16 So (R)we cried out to Yahweh, and He heard our voice and sent (S)an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17 Please (T)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we pass through your territory.’”
18 (U)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through [e]us, lest I come out to meet you with the sword.” 19 Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and (V)my livestock do drink any of your water, (W)then I will [f]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, [g]nothing else.” 20 But he said, “(X)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out to meet him with a heavy [h]force and with a strong hand. 21 (Y)Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; (Z)so Israel turned away from him.
22 Then they set out from (AA)Kadesh, and the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
The Death of Aaron
23 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at (AB)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24 “Aaron will be (AC)gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel because (AD)you rebelled against My [i]command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and his son (AE)Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; 26 and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be (AF)gathered to his people and will die there.” 27 So Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and (AG)put them on his son Eleazar, and (AH)Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 So all the congregation saw that Aaron breathed his last, and all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty (AI)days.
Footnotes
- Numbers 20:4 Lit there
- Numbers 20:5 Lit seed
- Numbers 20:13 Lit contention
- Numbers 20:13 Or where
- Numbers 20:18 Lit me
- Numbers 20:19 Lit give
- Numbers 20:19 Or no great thing
- Numbers 20:20 Lit people
- Numbers 20:24 Lit mouth
Numbers 20
New International Version
Numbers 20
New International Version
Water From the Rock
20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin,(A) and they stayed at Kadesh.(B) There Miriam(C) died and was buried.
2 Now there was no water(D) for the community,(E) and the people gathered in opposition(F) to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled(G) with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead(H) before the Lord!(I) 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness,(J) that we and our livestock should die here?(K) 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.(L) And there is no water to drink!(M)”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting(N) and fell facedown,(O) and the glory of the Lord(P) appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff,(Q) and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.(R) You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff(S) from the Lord’s presence,(T) just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together(U) in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”(V) 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water(W) gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy(X) in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”(Y)
13 These were the waters of Meribah,[a](Z) where the Israelites quarreled(AA) with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.(AB)
Edom Denies Israel Passage
14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh(AC) to the king of Edom,(AD) saying:
“This is what your brother Israel says: You know(AE) about all the hardships(AF) that have come on us. 15 Our ancestors went down into Egypt,(AG) and we lived there many years.(AH) The Egyptians mistreated(AI) us and our ancestors, 16 but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry(AJ) and sent an angel(AK) and brought us out of Egypt.(AL)
“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.(AM) 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.(AN)”
18 But Edom(AO) answered:
“You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.(AP)”
19 The Israelites replied:
“We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock(AQ) drink any of your water, we will pay for it.(AR) We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”
20 Again they answered:
“You may not pass through.(AS)”
Then Edom(AT) came out against them with a large and powerful army. 21 Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory,(AU) Israel turned away from them.(AV)
The Death of Aaron
22 The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh(AW) and came to Mount Hor.(AX) 23 At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom,(AY) the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people.(AZ) He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command(BA) at the waters of Meribah.(BB) 25 Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.(BC) 26 Remove Aaron’s garments(BD) and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people;(BE) he will die there.”
27 Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor(BF) in the sight of the whole community. 28 Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar.(BG) And Aaron died there(BH) on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, 29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died,(BI) all the Israelites mourned for him(BJ) thirty days.
Footnotes
- Numbers 20:13 Meribah means quarreling.
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