Exodus 17
1 And all the Congregation of the children of Israel departed from the wildernesse of Sin, by their iourneyes at the commandement of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drinke.
Obeying what Yahweh commanded, all the Israeli people moved from the Sin Desert. They/We traveled from one place to another. They/We camped at [a place named] Rephidim, but there was no water there for (the people/us) to drink.
2 Wherefore the people contended with Moses, and sayde, Giue vs water that we may drinke. And Moses sayde vnto them, Why contende yee with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?
So the people complained to Moses/me again, saying, “Give us water to drink!” Moses/I replied to them, “Why are you (criticizing/arguing with) me [RHQ]? And why are you trying to determine whether Yahweh [has the power to provide for you]?”
3 So the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore hast thou thus brought vs out of Egypt to kill vs and our children and our cattel with thirst?
But the people were very thirsty, and they continued to complain to Moses/me. They were saying things like “Why did you bring us out of Egypt?”, and “Did you bring us here to cause us and our children and livestock to die (from thirst/because we had no water to drink) [RHQ]?”
4 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, What shall I do to this people? for they be almost ready to stone me.
So Moses/I prayed earnestly to Yahweh. He/I said, “(How shall I deal with these people?/I do not know how to deal with these people!) [RHQ] They are almost ready to [kill me by throwing] stones at me!”
5 And ye Lord answered to Moses, Goe before the people, and take with thee of the Elders of Israel: and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the riuer, take in thine hand, and go:
Yahweh replied to Moses/me, “Take some of the elders/leaders of the Israeli people with you and [tell the rest of] the people to follow you [to Sinai Mountain]. Take along the stick with which you struck the Nile [River].
6 Behold, I will stand there before thee vpon the rocke in Horeb, and thou shalt smite on the rocke, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drinke. And Moses did so in the sight of the Elders of Israel.
Listen carefully: I will stand in front of you on top of a [large] rock at the foot of the mountain. Strike the rock with your stick. [When you do that], water for the people to drink will flow out of the rock.” [When they/we arrived at the mountain], Moses/I did that while the Israeli elders were watching, [and water flowed from the rock].
7 And he called the name of the place, Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they had tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among vs, or no?
Moses/I gave that place two names [in the Hebrew language: ] Massah, [which means ‘testing’], and Meribah, [which means ‘complaining’]. He/I gave it the name Massah because the Israeli people were testing Yahweh, saying “Is Yahweh really among us [and able to help us], or not?”, and he/I gave it the name Meribah because they were [continually] complaining.
8 Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Then the descendants of the Amalek people-group came and fought against the Israeli people at Rephidim.
9 And Moses sayde to Ioshua, Chuse vs out men, and go fight with Amalek: to morowe I will stande on the toppe of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
Moses/I said to Joshua, [who was one of our army/Israeli leaders], “Choose some men to go out and fight against the Amalek people-group tomorrow. I will stand on the top of the hill, holding the stick that God told me to carry.”
10 So Ioshua did as Moses bad him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur, went vp to the top of the hill.
So Joshua did what Moses/I told him to do. He took some men to fight against the Amalek people-group. [While they were fighting], Aaron, Hur, and Moses/I went up to the top of the hill [so that they/we could see the whole battle area].
11 And when Moses helde vp his hande, Israel preuailed: but when he let his hande downe, Amalek preuailed.
Whenever Moses/I lifted up his/my arms, the Israeli men started to win [the battle]. And whenever he/I lowered his/my arms, the Amalek people-group started to win.
12 Nowe Moses handes were heauy: therefore they tooke a stone and put it vnder him, and hee sate vpon it: and Aaron and Hur stayed vp his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side: so his hands were steady vntill the going downe of the sunne.
But his/my arms became tired. So Aaron and Hur [rolled] a [large] stone for Moses/me to sit on. [While he/I was sitting on it], those two held up his/my arms, [one on one side and the other on the other side]. In that way, they kept his/my arms lifted up, and his/my arms held steady until the sun went down.
13 And Ioshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
So Joshua and the men with him completely defeated the Amalek people-group, using their swords [to fight against them].
14 And the Lord sayde to Moses, Write this for a remembrance in the booke, and rehearse it to Ioshua: for I will vtterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from vnder heauen.
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Write an account of this battle, and then read it to Joshua. [Also write that some day] I will completely get rid of the Amalek people-group.”
15 (And Moses builte an altar and called the name of it, Iehouah-nissi)
Then Moses/I built a [stone] altar there and named it ‘Yahweh is [like] my flag’.
16 Also he said, The Lord hath sworne, that he will haue warre with Amalek from generation to generation.
He/I said, “Hold high Yahweh’s flag! Yahweh will continue to fight against the Amalek people-group (forever/in all future generations)!”
