Exodus 17
17
Chapter 17
God gives water out of a rock
1Then all the Israelites continued to travel on from the desert called Sin. They moved from one place to another, as the Lord told them. When they arrived at Rephidim, they put up their tents there. But there was no water for the people to drink. 2Because of this, the people quarrelled with Moses. They said, ‘Give us water to drink!’ Moses said to them, ‘You should not quarrel with me! You should not try to test the Lord!’
3But the people needed water to drink. They complained against Moses. They said, ‘You should not have brought us out of Egypt! You will kill us and our children and our animals. We will all die, because we have no water to drink.’
4Then Moses called to the Lord for help. He said, ‘What can I do with these people? They will soon be throwing stones at me to kill me.’
5The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take some of the leaders of the Israelites with you and go in front of the people. Take your stick in your hand. Take the stick that you used to hit the Nile river. Now go! 6I will stand there, in front of you, by the rock at Sinai. Hit the rock with your stick, and water will come out of it. Then the people can drink.’ So Moses did this, while the leaders of the Israelites watched him.
7Moses called that place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled there. They tried to test the Lord to see what he would do. They said, ‘Let us see if the Lord is really with us. Will he help us, or not?’ #17:7 ‘Massah’ means ‘a test’. ‘Meribah’ means ‘a quarrel’.
The Israelites fight the Amalekites
8At Rephidim, the Amalekites came and they fought against the Israelites. 9Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men. Then go out with them and fight against the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, and I will hold God's stick in my hand.’
10So Joshua fought against the Amalekites. He did what Moses had told him to do. Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11When Moses lifted up his hands, the Israelites were winning in the fight. But when Moses brought his hands down, the Amalekites were winning. 12Moses' hands became very tired. So Aaron and Hur put a big stone under Moses for him to sit on. Then Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands. Aaron stood on one side of Moses, and Hur stood on the other side. They held his hands up, until sunset. 13As a result, Joshua and his men destroyed the Amalekite army in the fight.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down what happened here in a book. Then people will remember it. Read it aloud for Joshua to hear. Say that I will completely destroy all the Amalekites. Nobody in the whole world will remember them any more.’
15Then Moses used big stones to build an altar. He called it ‘The Lord is my flag in war’. #17:15 A flag is a large piece of cloth that someone fixes to a stick. Soldiers carry flags when they go to fight in a war. The flag is like a sign for the soldiers. 16Moses said, ‘Take hold of the Lord's flag! The Lord will always continue to fight against the Amalekites.’
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Exodus 17: EASY
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Exodus 17
17
The Lord Gives Water from a Rock
1 #
Nu 20.2-13. The Israelites left the desert and moved from one place to another each time the Lord ordered them to. Once they camped at Rephidim,#17.1 Rephidim: The last stopping place for the Israelites between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai; the exact location is not known. but there was no water for them to drink.
2The people started complaining to Moses, “Give us some water!”
Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the Lord to the test?”
3But the people were thirsty and kept on complaining, “Moses, did you bring us out of Egypt just to let us and our families and our animals die of thirst?”
4Then Moses prayed to the Lord, “What am I going to do with these people? They are about to stone me to death!”
5The Lord answered, “Take some of the leaders with you and go ahead of the rest of the people. Also take along the walking stick with which you struck the Nile River. 6When you get to the rock at Mount Sinai,#17.6 Sinai: The Hebrew text has “Horeb,” another name for Sinai. I will be there with you. Strike the rock with the stick, and water will pour out for the people to drink.” Moses did this while the leaders watched.
7The people had complained and tested the Lord by asking, “Is the Lord really with us?” So Moses named that place Massah, which means “testing” and Meribah, which means “complaining.”
Israel Defeats the Amalekites
8When the Israelites were at Rephidim, they were attacked by the Amalekites. 9So Moses told Joshua, “Have some men ready to attack the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on a hilltop, holding this walking stick that has the power of God.”
10Joshua led the attack as Moses had commanded, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur stood on the hilltop. 11The Israelites out-fought the Amalekites as long as Moses held up his arms, but they started losing whenever he lowered them. 12After a while, his arms were so tired that Aaron and Hur got a rock for him to sit on. Then they stood beside him and supported his arms in the same position until sunset. 13That's how Joshua defeated the Amalekites.
14 #
Dt 25.17-19; 1 S 15.2-9. Afterwards, the Lord said to Moses, “Write an account of this victory and read it to Joshua. I want the Amalekites to be forgotten forever.”
15Moses built an altar and named it “The Lord Gives Me Victory.” 16Then Moses explained, “This is because I depended on the Lord.#17.16 This … Lord: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. But in future generations, the Lord will fight the Amalekites again and again.”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.