Exodus 17
1 Then all the Israelites left the Desert of Sin, going from place to place as they followed the Lord's commands. They camped at Rephidim, but there wasn't any 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 Some of them came and complained to Moses, saying, “Give us water to drink!” Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me?” Moses asked. “Why are you trying to challenge 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 But the people were so thirsty for water there that they went on complaining to Moses, saying, “Why did you have to bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us and our children and livestock by 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 Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I going to do with these people? A bit more of this and they're going to 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 The Lord told Moses, “Go ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take with you the walking stick you used to hit the Nile, and just go on ahead.
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 Look, I will stand there beside you by the rock at Horeb. When you hit the rock water will pour out for the people to drink.” So Moses did this as the elders of Israel watched.
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 He called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites argued there, and because they challenged 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 Then some Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
Then Amalek came and made war on Israel in Rephidim.
9 Moses told Joshua, “Choose some of men and go out and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I'll stand on the top of this hill holding the walking stick of God.”
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 what Moses told him and fought the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed 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 As long as Moses held up the walking stick his hands, the Israelites were the ones winning, but when he lowered them, it was the Amalekites.
Now while Moses' hand was lifted up, Israel was the stronger: but when he let his hand go down, Amalek became the stronger.
12 So when Moses' hands became heavy, the others took a stone and put it under him for him to sit on. Aaron and Hur stood on each side of Moses and held his hands up. In this way his hands were kept firmly up until the sun went down.
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 As a result Joshua defeated the Amalekite army.
And Joshua overcame Amalek and his people with the sword.
14 The Lord told Moses, “Write all this down on a scroll as a reminder and read it out loud to Joshua, because I'm going to completely wipe out the Amalekites so nobody on earth will remember them.”
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 Moses built an altar and called it “the Lord is my banner of victory.”
Then Moses put up an altar and gave it the name of Yahweh-nissi:
16 “Hold up the victory banner of the Lord!” Moses declared. “The Lord will go on fighting the Amalekites for all generations!”
For he said, The Lord has taken his oath that there will be war with Amalek from generation to generation.
