Exodus 15:22-27

New Century Version

Bitter Water Becomes Good

²² Moses led the Israelites away from the Red Sea into the Desert of Shur. They traveled for three days in the desert but found no water. ²³ Then they came to Marah, where there was water, but they could not drink it because it was too bitter. (That is why the place was named Marah.^[a]) ²⁴ The people grumbled to Moses and asked, “What will we drink?”

²⁵ So Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw the tree into the water, the water became good to drink.

There the Lord gave the people a rule and a law to live by, and there he tested their loyalty to him. ²⁶ He said, “You must obey the Lord your God and do what he says is right. If you obey all his commands and keep his rules, I will not bring on you any of the sicknesses I brought on the Egyptians. I am the Lord who heals you.”

²⁷ Then the people traveled to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. So the people camped there near the water.