Numbers 20

¹And the sones of Israel and al the multitude camen in to the deseert of Syn, in the firste monethe . And the puple dwellide in Cades; and Marie was deed there, and biried in the same place.

²And whanne the puple hadde nede to watir, thei yeden togidere ayens Moises and Aaron; and thei weren turned in to dissensioun ,

³and seiden, We wolden that we hadden perischid among oure britheren bifor the Lord.

⁴Whi han ye led out the chirche of the Lord in to wildirnesse, that bothe we and oure beestis die?

⁵Whi han ye maad vs to stie from Egipt, and han brouyt vs in to this werste place, which may not be sowun, which nether bryngith forth fige tre, nether vineris, nether pumgranatis, ferthermore and hath not watir to drynke?

⁶And whanne the multitude was left, Moises and Aaron entriden in to the tabernacle of boond of pees, and felden lowe to erthe, and crieden to God, and seiden, Lord God, here the cry of this puple, and opene to hem thi tresour, a welle of quyk watir, that whanne thei ben fillid, the grutchyng of hem ceesse. And the glorie of the Lord apperide on hem;

⁷and the Lord spak to Moises,

⁸and seide, Take the yerde , and gadere the puple, thou, and Aaron thi brother; and speke ye to the stoon bifore hem, and it schal yyue watris. And whanne thou hast led watir out of the stoon, al the multitude schal drynke, and the beestis therof `schulden drynke.

⁹Therfor Moises took the yerde that was in the `siyt of the Lord, as the Lord comaundide to hym,

¹⁰whanne the multitude was gaderid bifor the stoon; and he seide to hem, Here ye, rebel and vnbileueful; whether we moun brynge out of this stoon watir to you?

¹¹And whanne Moises hadde reisid the hond, and hadde smyte the flynt twies with the yerde, largeste watris yeden out, so that the puple drank, and the beestis drunken.

¹²And the Lord seide to Moises and to Aaron, For ye bileueden not to me, that ye schulden halewe me bifor the sones of Israel, ye schulen not lede these puples in to the lond which Y schal yyue to hem.

¹³This is the watir of ayenseiyng; there the sones of Israel stryueden ayens the Lord, and he was halewid in hem.

¹⁴In the meene tyme Moises sente messangeres fro Cades to the kyng of Edom, whiche seiden, Israel thi brother sendith these thinges. Thou knowist al the trauel that took vs,

¹⁵hou oure fadris yeden doun in to Egipt, and we dwelliden there myche tyme, and Egipcians turmentiden vs and oure fadris; and hou we crieden to the Lord,

¹⁶and he herde vs, and sente an aungel that ledde vs out of Egipt. And lo! we ben set in the citee of Cades, which is in thi laste coostis,

¹⁷and we bisechen that it be leueful to vs to passe thorou thi lond; we schulen not go bi feeldis, nether bi vyneris, nether we schulen drynke watris of thi pittis; but we schulen go in the comyn weie, and we schulen not bowe to the riyt side, nether to the left side, til we passen thi termes.

¹⁸To whom Edom answeride, Ye schulen not passe bi me, ellis Y schal be armed, and come ayens thee.

¹⁹And the sones of Israel seiden, We schulen go bi the weie comynli vsid, and if we and oure beestis drynken thi watris, we schulen yyue that that is iust; noon hardnesse schal be in prijs, onely passe we swiftli.

²⁰And he answeride, Ye schulen not passe. And anoon he yede out ayens Israel, with a multitude without noumbre, and `strong hond,

²¹nether he wolde assente to Israel bisechynge, that he schulde graunte passage bi hise coostis. Wherfor Israel turnede awey fro hym.

²²And whanne thei hadden moued tentis fro Cades, thei camen in to the hil of Hor, which is in the endis of the lond of Edom;

²³where the Lord spak to Moyses and seide, Aaron go to his puples;

²⁴for he schal not entre in to the lond which Y yaf to the sones of Israel, for he was vnbileueful to my mouth, at the watris of ayenseiyng.

²⁵Take thou Aaron, and his sone with hym, and thou schalt lede hem in to the hil of Hor;

²⁶and whanne thou hast maad nakid the fadir of his cloth , thou schalt clothe `with it Eleazar, his sone, and Aaron schal be gederid, and schal die there.

²⁷Moises dide as the Lord comaundide; and thei stieden in to the hil of Hor, bifor al the multitude.

²⁸And whanne he hadde maad nakid Aaron of hise clothis, he clothide with tho Eleazar, his sone.

²⁹Sotheli whanne Aaron was deed in the `cop of the hil, Moises cam doun with Eleazar.

³⁰Sotheli al the multitude siy that Aaron was deed, and wepte on hym thretti daies, bi alle her meyness.

Numbers 20

¹Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert 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 gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

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

⁴And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?

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 tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.

⁷And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁸Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

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

¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

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

¹³This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, 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 have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:

¹⁶And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath 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 country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

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

¹⁹And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet.

²⁰And he said, Thou shalt not go 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 the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.

²³And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast 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 water 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 the Lord 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 in 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 mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.