Exodus 17

New American Standard Bible

Water in the Rock

17 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by ^[a]stages from the wilderness of ^(A)Sin, according to the ^[b]command of the Lord, and camped at ^(B)Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. ² So the people ^(C)quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!” And Moses said to them, “^(D)Why do you quarrel with me? ^(E)Why do you test the Lord?” ³ But the people were thirsty for water there; and ^[c]they ^(F)grumbled against Moses and said, “Why is it that you have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill ^[d]us and ^[e]our children and ^[f](G)our livestock with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What am I to do with this people? A ^(H)little more and they will stone me!” ⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of ^(I)the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which ^(J)you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶ Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at ^(K)Horeb; and ^(L)you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ Then he named the place ^[g](M)Massah and ^[h](N)Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they ^(O)tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”

Miraculous Battle against Amalek

⁸ Then ^(P)Amalek came and fought against Israel at ^(Q)Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to ^(R)Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with ^(S)the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ Joshua did just as Moses ^[i]told him, ^[j]and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and ^(T)Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ So it came about, when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed; but when he let his hand ^[k]down, Amalek prevailed. ¹² And Moses’ hands were heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur ^(U)supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. So his hands were steady until the sun set. ¹³ And Joshua ^[l]defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(V)Write this in ^[m]a book as a memorial and ^[n]recite it to Joshua, ^[o]that ^(W)I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses built an ^(X)altar and named it ^(Y)The Lord is My Banner; ¹⁶ and he said, “^[p](Z)Because the Lord has sworn, the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.”