Exodus 17

Water from the Rock

1 w All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 x Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you y test the Lord?" 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and z the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready a to stone me." 5 And the Lord said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with b which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 c Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place d Massah 1 and e Meribah, 2 because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

Israel Defeats Amalek

8 f Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to g Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with h the staff of God in my hand." 10 So g Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and i Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses j held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and i Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And g Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of g Joshua, that k I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." 15 And Moses l built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, "A hand upon the throne 3 of the Lord! k The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

  1. Cross References
    Exodus 16:1
    They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.
    Numbers 33:12
    And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
    Numbers 33:14
    And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
  2. Cross References
    Numbers 20:3 - 4
    And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 6:16
    You shall not put the Lord your God to the test...
    Psalms 78:18
    They tested God in their heart by demanding the...
    Psalms 78:41
    They tested God again and again and provoked th...
    Psalms 95:8 - 9
    Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on...
    Isaiah 7:12
    But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not ...
    Matthew 4:7
    Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You s...
    1 Corinthians 10:9
    We must not put Christ to the test, as some of ...
    Hebrews 3:8 - 9
    Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, ...
  4. Cross References
    Exodus 15:24
    And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?
    Exodus 16:2
    And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
  5. Cross References
    Numbers 14:10
    Then all the congregation said to stone them wi...
    1 Samuel 30:6
    And David was greatly distressed, for the peopl...
    2 Chronicles 24:21
    But they conspired against him, and by command ...
    Matthew 23:37
    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the...
    Luke 13:34
    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the...
    John 8:59
    So they picked up stones to throw at him, but J...
    John 10:31 - 33
    The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
    John 11:8
    The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews wer...
    Acts 7:58
    Then they cast him out of the city and stoned h...
    Acts 14:5
    When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and J...
    Acts 14:19
    But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and hav...
    2 Corinthians 11:25
    Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was ...
    Hebrews 11:37
    They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they w...
    Joshua 9:25
    And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever ...
    1 Kings 21:13
    And the two worthless men came in and sat oppos...
  6. Cross References
    Exodus 7:20
    Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.
  7. Cross References
    Numbers 20:8 - 11
    "Take the staff, and assemble the congregation,...
    Deuteronomy 8:15
    Who led you through the great and terrifying wi...
    Nehemiah 9:15
    You gave them bread from heaven for their hunge...
    Psalms 78:15 - 16
    He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them ...
    Psalms 78:20
    He struck the rock so that water gushed out and...
    Psalms 105:41
    He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it fl...
    Psalms 114:8
    Who turns the rock into a pool of water, the fl...
    Isaiah 43:20
    The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and ...
    Isaiah 48:21
    They did not thirst when he led them through th...
    1 Corinthians 10:4
    And all drank the same spiritual drink. For the...
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 95:8
    Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness.
  9. Cross References
    Numbers 20:13
    These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.
    Psalms 81:7
    In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
    Psalms 95:8
    Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 25:17
    Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt.
    1 Samuel 15:2
    Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.
  11. Cross References
    Exodus 24:13
    So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
    Exodus 32:17
    When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp.
    Exodus 33:11
    Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
  12. Cross References
    Exodus 4:20
    So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 17:9
    So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 24:14
    And he said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.
    Exodus 31:2
    See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
  15. Cross References
    1 Timothy 2:8
    I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.
  16. Cross References
    Exodus 17:10
    So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
  17. Cross References
    Exodus 17:9
    So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.
  18. Cross References
    Exodus 17:9
    So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.
  19. Cross References
    Numbers 24:20
    Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discou...
    Deuteronomy 25:19
    Therefore when the Lord your God has given you ...
    1 Samuel 15:3
    Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruct...
    1 Samuel 15:7
    And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah a...
    1 Samuel 30:1
    Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on th...
    1 Samuel 30:17
    And David struck them down from twilight until ...
    2 Samuel 8:12
    From Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines...
  20. Cross References
    Judges 6:24
    Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
  21. Cross References
    Exodus 17:14
    Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Previous Book Next Book