CHAPTER 17
Then the entire
congregation
of Israel
left
the Desert
of Sin,
moving from place to place
as
the LORD
commanded.
They camped
at Rephidim,
but there was no
water
for the people
to drink.
So the people
contended
with
Moses,
“Give
us water
to drink.”
“Why
do you contend
with me?”
Moses
replied.
“Why
do you test
the LORD?”
But the people
thirsted
for water
there,
and they grumbled
against
Moses:
“Why
have you brought us
out of Egypt—
to kill
us and our children
and livestock
with thirst?”
Then Moses
cried out
to
the LORD,
“What
should I do
with these
people?
A little more
and they will stone me!”
The LORD
answered
Moses,
“Walk on
ahead of
the people
and take
some of the elders
of Israel
with you.
Take along
in your hand
the staff
with which
you struck
the Nile,
and go.
Behold,
I will stand
there
before
you
by the rock
at Horeb;
when you strike
the rock,
water
will come out
of it
for the people
to drink.”
So Moses
did
this
in the sight
of the elders
of Israel.
He named
the place
Massah
and Meribah
because
the Israelites
quarreled,
and because
they tested
the LORD,
saying,
“Is
the LORD
among us
or
not?”
So Moses
said
to
Joshua,
“Choose
some of our men
and go out
to fight
the Amalekites.
Tomorrow
I
will stand
on
the hilltop
with the staff
of God
in my hand.”
Joshua
did
as
Moses
had instructed
him
and fought
against the Amalekites,
while Moses,
Aaron,
and Hur
went up
to the top
of the hill.
As long as
Moses
held up
his hands,
Israel
prevailed;
but when
he lowered
them,
Amalek
prevailed.
When Moses’
hands
grew heavy,
they took
a stone
and put
it under him,
and he sat
on it.
Then Aaron
and Hur
held
his hands up,
one
on each
side,
so that his hands
remained
steady
until
the sun
went down.
Then the LORD
said
to
Moses,
“Write this
on a scroll
as a reminder
and recite
it to Joshua,
because
I will utterly blot out
the memory
of Amalek
from under
heaven.”
“Indeed,”
he said,
“a hand
was lifted up toward
the throne
of the LORD.
The LORD
will war
against Amalek
from generation
to generation.”