Numbers 20:5-23

⁵Why did you bring us from Egypt to this miserable place RHQ? There is no grain, there are no figs, no grapes, and no pomegranates here. And there is no water for us to drink!”

⁶Aaron and Moses/I turned away from the people and went to the entrance of the Sacred Tent and prostrated themselves/ourselves on the ground. Then Yahweh appeared to them/us with his bright glory,

⁷and he said to Moses/me,

⁸“You and Aaron must take Aaron's walking stick with you and gather all the people together. While the people are watching, command that water will flow out of that large rock over there. Water for the people will flow from it; all they and all their livestock will have enough water to drink.”

⁹So Moses/I did what Yahweh told him/me to do. He/I took Aaron's walking stick from the place in the Sacred Tent where it was kept.

¹⁰Then Aaron and he/I summoned all the people to gather at the rock. Then Moses/I shouted to them, “All you rebellious people, listen! Is it necessary for us to give you water from this rock?”

¹¹Then Moses/I raised his/my hand and instead of speaking to the rock, he/I struck the rock two times with the walking stick. And water gushed/poured out. So all the people and their livestock drank all the water that they wanted.

¹²But Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me, “You did not believe that I could demonstrate my power to the Israeli people and give them water without your striking the rock. So you will not lead them into the land that I am giving to them!”

¹³Later this place was called Meribah, which means ❛arguing❜, because there the Israeli people argued with Yahweh, and there he showed his power to them by giving them water.

¹⁴While the people were at Kadesh town, Moses/I sent messengers to the king of Edom to tell him this: “Your relatives, the Israeli people, are sending you this message. You know the many troubles/hardships that have happened to us.

¹⁵You know that our ancestors went down to Egypt. You know that they stayed there for many years. They suffered because the rulers of Egypt caused them to become their slaves and to work very hard.

¹⁶But when they called out to Yahweh, he heard them and sent an angel who brought them out of Egypt. Now we have set up our tents here at Kadesh, a town at the border of your land.

¹⁷Please allow us to travel through your country. We will be careful to not walk through your fields and your vineyards. We will not even drink water from your wells. As we travel, we will stay on the king's highway, the main road that goes from the south to the north, and we will not leave that road until we have crossed the border of your country in the north.”

¹⁸But the king of Edom refused. He replied, “Stay out of my country! If you try to enter it, I will send my army to attack you!”

¹⁹The Israeli messengers replied, “ If we travel through your country, we will stay on the main road. If we and any of our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We want only to travel through your country. We do not want anything else.”

²⁰But the king replied, “No! Stay out of our country! We will not allow you to travel through our land!” Then he sent the strongest soldiers in his army to prevent the Israelis from entering his country.

²¹So, because the king of Edom refused to allow the Israelis to travel through his country, the Israelis turned and traveled a different way.

²²The Israeli people left Kadesh. They went to Hor Mountain,

²³which is at the border of Edom. While they were there, Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,