Exodus 17

Wycliffe Bible

17 Therefore all the multitude of the sons of Israel went forth from the desert of Sin, by their dwellings, by the word of the Lord, and setted tents in Rephidim, where was no water to the people to drink. (And so all the Israelites went forth from the wilderness of Sin, in stages, by the word of the Lord, and pitched their tents in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.)

² Which people chided against Moses, and said, Give water to us, that we drink. To whom Moses answered, What chide ye against me, and why tempt ye the Lord? (And the people complained to Moses, and said, Give us some water to drink. To whom Moses answered, Why do ye complain to me, and why do ye tempt the Lord?)

³ Therefore the people thirsted there for the scarceness of water, and they grouched against Moses, and said, Why madest thou us to go out of Egypt, (for) to slay us, and our free children, and our beasts, for thirst? (And so the people thirsted there for the scarceness of water, and they grumbled against Moses, and said, Why hast thou made us to go out of Egypt, in order to kill us, and our children, and our beasts, with thirst?)

⁴ Forsooth Moses cried to the Lord, and said, What shall I do to this people? yet a little, and it shall stone me (What shall I do with these people? very soon they shall all stone me!).

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, Go thou before the people, and take with thee of the elder men of Israel, and take in thine hand the rod, with the which thou hast smitten the flood, and go; (The Lord said to Moses, Go thou before the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with thee, and take in thy hand the staff with which thou struck the River, and go;)

⁶ lo! I shall stand there before thee, above the stone of Horeb, and thou shalt smite the stone, and water shall go out thereof, that the people drink. Moses did so before the elder men of Israel; (lo! I shall stand there before thee, by the rock at Mount Sinai, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and then the people shall have something to drink. Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel;)

⁷ and he called the name of that place Temptation, for the chiding of the sons of Israel, and for they tempted the Lord, and said, Whether the Lord is in us, or nay? (and he called the name of that place Massah and Meribah, because of the complaining of the Israelites, and because they tempted the Lord and said, Is the Lord with us, or not?)

⁸ Forsooth Amalek came (And the Amalekites came), and fought against Israel in Rephidim.

⁹ And Moses said to Joshua, Choose thou men, and go out, and fight tomorrow against the men of Amalek; lo! I shall stand in the top of the hill, and I shall have the rod of God in mine hand. (And Moses said to Joshua, Choose thou some men, and tomorrow go out, and fight against the Amalekites; lo! I shall stand on the hill-top, and I shall have God’s staff in my hand.)

¹⁰ Joshua did as Moses spake, and he fought against Amalek. Forsooth Moses, and Aaron, and Hur went up on(to) the top of the hill;

¹¹ and when Moses raised [up] his hands, Israel overcame; forsooth if he let them down a little, Amalek overcame.

¹² Soothly Moses’ hands were (made) heavy, therefore they took a stone, and put (it) under him, on which stone he sat. Forsooth Aaron and Hur sustained his hands, on ever either side; and (so) it was done, that his hands were not made weary, till to the going down of the sun.

¹³ And Joshua drove away Amalek and his people, in the mouth of [the] sword, that is, by the sharpness of the sword, Joshua killed the strong men of Amalek.

¹⁴ Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, Write thou this in a book, for mind, and take (it) in(to) the ears of Joshua; for I shall do away the mind of Amalek from under heaven. (And the Lord said to Moses, Write thou about this in a book to remember it, and tell it to Joshua; for I shall do away all memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.)

¹⁵ And Moses builded an altar, and called the name thereof, The Lord is mine enhancer, (And Moses built an altar there, and called it Jehovahnissi,)

¹⁶ and he said, For (it is) the hand of the Lord alone, and the battle of God shall be against Amalek (and God shall fight against the Amalekites), from generation into generation.