Exodus 17
1 And so, the entire multitude of the sons of Israel, having set out from the desert of Sin in stages, according to the word of the Lord, made camp at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
And the children of Israel went on from the waste land of Sin, by stages as the Lord gave them orders, and put up their tents in Rephidim: and there was no drinking-water for the people.
2 And arguing against Moses, they said, “Give us water, so that we may drink.” And Moses answered them: “Why argue against me? For what reason do you tempt the Lord?”
So the people were angry with Moses, and said, Give us water for drinking. And Moses said, Why are you angry with me? and why do you put God to the test?
3 And so the people were thirsty in that place, due to the scarcity of water, and they murmured against Moses, saying: “Why did you cause us to go out of Egypt, so as to kill us and our children, as well as our cattle, with thirst?”
And the people were in great need of water; and they made an outcry against Moses, and said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to send death on us and our children and our cattle through need of water?
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, saying: “What shall I do with this people? A little while more and they will stone me.”
And Moses, crying out to the Lord, said, What am I to do to this people? they are almost ready to put me to death by stoning.
5 And the Lord said to Moses: “Go before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. And take in your hand the staff, with which you struck the river, and advance.
And the Lord said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take some of the chiefs of Israel with you, and take in your hand the rod which was stretched out over the Nile, and go.
6 Lo, I will stand in that place before you, on the rock of Horeb. And you shall strike the rock, and water will go forth from it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
See, I will take my place before you on the rock in Horeb; and when you give the rock a blow, water will come out of it, and the people will have drink. And Moses did so before the eyes of the chiefs of Israel.
7 And he called the name of that place ‘Temptation,’ because of the arguing of the sons of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying: “Is the Lord with us, or not?”
And he gave that place the name Massah and Meribah, because the children of Israel were angry, and because they put the Lord to the test, saying, Is the Lord with us or not?
8 And Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim.
Then Amalek came and made war on Israel in Rephidim.
9 And Moses said to Joshua: “Choose men. And when you go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”
And Moses said to Joshua, Get together a band of men for us and go out, make war on Amalek: tomorrow I will take my place on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.
10 Joshua did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalek. But Moses and Aaron and Hur ascended to the top of the hill.
So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and went to war with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11 And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed. But when he released them a little while, Amalek overcame.
Now while Moses' hand was lifted up, Israel was the stronger: but when he let his hand go down, Amalek became the stronger.
12 Then the hands of Moses became heavy. And so, taking a stone, they placed it beneath him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur sustained his hands from both sides. And it happened that his hands did not tire until the setting of the sun.
But Moses' hands became tired; so they put a stone under him and he took his seat on it, Aaron and Hur supporting his hands, one on one side and one on the other; so his hands were kept up without falling till the sun went down.
13 And Joshua put to flight Amalek and his people by the edge of the sword.
And Joshua overcame Amalek and his people with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Write this, as a memorial in a book, and deliver it to the ears of Joshua. For I will wipe away the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
And the Lord said to Moses, Make a record of this in a book, so that it may be kept in memory, and say it again in the ears of Joshua: that all memory of Amalek is to be completely uprooted from the earth.
15 And Moses built an altar. And he called its name, ‘The Lord, my Exaltation.’ For he said:
Then Moses put up an altar and gave it the name of Yahweh-nissi:
16 “The hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of the Lord, will be against Amalek from generation to generation.”
For he said, The Lord has taken his oath that there will be war with Amalek from generation to generation.
