Numbers 20:1-13

The Death of Miriam

1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came 1into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And 2Miriam died there and was buried there.

The Waters of Meribah

2 3Now there was no water for the congregation. 4And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3 And the people 5quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished 6when our brothers perished before the LORD!
4 Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?
5 And 7why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."
6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and 8fell on their faces. 9And the glory of the LORD appeared to them,
7 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
8 10"Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So 11you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle."
9 And Moses took the staff 12from before the LORD, as he commanded him.

Moses Strikes the Rock

10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, 13"Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"
11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, 14and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because 15you did not believe in me, 16to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."
13 17These are the waters of Meribah,[a] where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy.

Cross References 17

  • 1. See Numbers 13:21
  • 2. Numbers 12:1; Numbers 26:59; Exodus 15:20
  • 3. [Exodus 17:1]
  • 4. Numbers 16:19, 42
  • 5. Numbers 14:2; [Exodus 17:2]
  • 6. Numbers 11:1, 33; Numbers 14:37; Numbers 16:32, 33, 35, 49
  • 7. [Exodus 17:3]
  • 8. Numbers 14:5; Numbers 16:4, 22, 45
  • 9. See Leviticus 9:23
  • 10. [Exodus 17:5]
  • 11. See Exodus 17:6
  • 12. Numbers 17:10
  • 13. Psalms 106:32, 33
  • 14. [See ver. 8 above]
  • 15. Numbers 27:14; Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 3:26; Deuteronomy 32:51
  • 16. Ezekiel 20:41; Ezekiel 36:23; Ezekiel 38:16
  • 17. Numbers 27:14; Exodus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:51; Deuteronomy 33:8; Psalms 81:7; Psalms 95:8; Psalms 106:32

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Meribah means quarreling
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.