Numbers 20

Israel's Complaints About Water Numbers 20:2–5

²Verse 2. There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³Verse 3. The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh! ⁴Verse 4. Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals? ⁵Verse 5. Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”

God's Instruction to Moses Numbers 20:6–8

⁶Verse 6. Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. Yahweh’s glory appeared to them. ⁷Verse 7. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸Verse 8. “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.”

Moses Strikes the Rock Numbers 20:9–11

⁹Verse 9. Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him. ¹⁰Verse 10. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹Verse 11. Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.

Consequences for Moses and Aaron Numbers 20:12–13

¹²Verse 12. Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” ¹³Verse 13. These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.

Request for Passage Through Edom Numbers 20:14–21

¹⁴Verse 14. Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us; ¹⁵Verse 15. how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers. ¹⁶Verse 16. When we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the edge of your border. ¹⁷Verse 17. “Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink from the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway. We will not turn away to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.”

¹⁸Verse 18. Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹Verse 19. The children of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway; and if we drink your water, I and my livestock, then I will give its price. Only let me, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.” ²⁰Verse 20. He said, “You shall not pass through.” Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand. ²¹Verse 21. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.

Aaron's Death on Mount Hor Numbers 20:22–29

²²Verse 22. They traveled from Kadesh: and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ²³Verse 23. Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴Verse 24. “Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵Verse 25. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶Verse 26. and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron shall be gathered, and shall die there.”

²⁷Verse 27. Moses did as Yahweh commanded. They went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸Verse 28. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹Verse 29. When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.