Exodus 17-18

New King James Version

Water from the Rock^(A)

17 Then ^(B)all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of ^(C)Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to ^(D)drink. ^2 (E)Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.”

So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you ^(F)tempt the Lord?”

³ And the people thirsted there for water, and the people ^(G)complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our ^(H)livestock with thirst?”

⁴ So Moses ^(I)cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to ^(J)stone^[a] me!”

⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(K)“Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which ^(L)you struck the river, and go. ^6 (M)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ So he called the name of the place ^(N)Massah^[b] and ^[c]Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they ^[d]tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Victory over the Amalekites^(O)

^8 (P)Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. ⁹ And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with ^(Q)the rod of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ And so it was, when Moses ^(R)held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses’ hands became ^[e]heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(S)“Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that ^(T)I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar and called its name, ^[f]The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; ¹⁶ for he said, “Because ^[g]the Lord has ^(U)sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Jethro’s Advice^(V)

18 And ^(W)Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that ^(X)God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took ^(Y)Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, ³ with her ^(Z)two sons, of whom the name of one was ^[h]Gershom (for he said, ^(AA)“I have been a ^[i]stranger in a foreign land”) ⁴ and the name of the other was ^[j]Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my ^(AB)help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”); ⁵ and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at ^(AC)the mountain of God. ⁶ Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”

⁷ So Moses ^(AD)went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and ^(AE)kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent. ⁸ And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had ^(AF)delivered them. ⁹ Then Jethro rejoiced for all the ^(AG)good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ And Jethro said, ^(AH)“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is ^(AI)greater than all the gods; ^(AJ)for in the very thing in which they ^[k]behaved ^(AK)proudly, He was above them.” ¹² Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, ^[l]took a burnt ^(AL)offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel ^(AM)to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

¹³ And so it was, on the next day, that Moses ^(AN)sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. ¹⁴ So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone ^[m]sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”

¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because ^(AO)the people come to me to inquire of God. ¹⁶ When they have ^(AP)a ^[n]difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

¹⁷ So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. ¹⁸ Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; ^(AQ)you are not able to perform it by yourself. ¹⁹ Listen now to my voice; I will give you ^[o]counsel, and God will be with you: Stand ^(AR)before God for the people, so that you may ^(AS)bring the difficulties to God. ²⁰ And you shall ^(AT)teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and ^(AU)the work they must do. ²¹ Moreover you shall select from all the people ^(AV)able men, such as ^(AW)fear God, ^(AX)men of truth, ^(AY)hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²² And let them judge the people at all times. ^(AZ)Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for ^(BA)they will bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their ^(BB)place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵ And ^(BC)Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²⁶ So they judged the people at all times; the ^(BD)hard^[p] cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and ^(BE)he went his way to his own land.