Numbers 20

¹And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

²And there was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

³And the people strove with Moses, and spake, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah!

⁴And why have ye brought the assembly of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts?

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 tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces: and the glory of Jehovah appeared unto them.

⁷And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

⁸Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.

⁹And Moses took the rod from before Jehovah, as he commanded him.

¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?

¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

¹²And Jehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.

¹³These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Jehovah, 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 dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers:

¹⁶and when we cried unto Jehovah, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border.

¹⁷Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells; we will go along the king’s highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border.

¹⁸And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against thee.

¹⁹And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.

²⁰And he said, Thou shalt not pass through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.

²¹Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

²²And they journeyed from Kadesh: and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came unto mount Hor.

²³And Jehovah spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,

²⁴Aaron shall be gathered unto his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor;

²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.

²⁷And Moses did as Jehovah commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

²⁸And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.

²⁹And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

Numbers 20

¹In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

²Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron.

³The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers 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 out of Egypt to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain, figs, vines, or pomegranates—and there is no water to drink!”

⁶Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

⁷And the LORD said to Moses,

⁸“Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.”

⁹So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded.

¹⁰Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”

¹¹Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.

¹²But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

¹³These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.

¹⁴From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

¹⁵how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,

¹⁶and when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

¹⁷Please let us pass through your land. We will not cut through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

¹⁸But Edom answered, “You may not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

¹⁹“We will stay on the main road,” the Israelites replied, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay for it. There will be no problem; only let us pass through on foot.”

²⁰But Edom insisted, “You may not pass through.” And they came out to confront the Israelites with a large army and a strong hand.

²¹So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

²²After they had set out from Kadesh, the whole congregation of Israel came to Mount Hor.

²³And at Mount Hor, near the border of the land of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

²⁴“Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land that I have given the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor.

²⁶Remove Aaron’s priestly garments and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.”

²⁷So Moses did as the LORD had commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation.

²⁸After Moses had removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²⁹When the whole congregation saw that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.