Exodus 17
1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the wilderness of Sin, according to their encampments, by the word of the Lord; and they encamped in Raphidin: and there was no water for the people to drink.
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.
2 And the people reviled Moses, saying, Give us water, that we may drink; and Moses said to them, Why do you revile me, and why tempt you the Lord?
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?”
3 And the people thirsted there for water, and there the people murmured against Moses, saying, Why is this? have you brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
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?”
4 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, What shall I do to this people? yet a little while and they will stone me.
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!”
5 And the Lord said to Moses, Go before this people, and take to yourself of the elders of the people; and the rod with which you struck the river, take in your hand, and you shall go.
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.
6 Behold, I stand there before you [come], on the rock in Choreb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out from it, and the people shall drink. And Moses did so before the sons of Israel.
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.
7 And he called the name of that place, Temptation, and Reviling, because of the reviling of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?
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?”
8 And Amalec came and fought with Israel in Raphidin.
Then some Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
9 And Moses said to Joshua, Choose out for yourself mighty men, and go forth and set the army in array against Amalec to-morrow; and, behold, I [shall] stand on the top of the hill, and the rod of God [will be] in my hand.
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.”
10 And Joshua did as Moses said to him, and he went out and set the army in array against Amalec, and Moses and Aaron and Or went up to the top of the hill.
Joshua did what Moses told him and fought the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of the hill.
11 And it came to pass, when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hands, Amalec prevailed.
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.
12 But the hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it; and Aaron and Or supported his hands one on this side and the other on that, and the hands of Moses were supported till the going down of the sun.
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.
13 And Joshua routed Amalec and all his people with the slaughter of the sword.
As a result Joshua defeated the Amalekite army.
14 And the Lord said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and speak [this] in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly blot out the memorial of Amalec from under heaven.
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.”
15 And Moses built an altar to the Lord, and called the name of it, The Lord my Refuge.
Moses built an altar and called it “the Lord is my banner of victory.”
16 For with a secret hand the Lord wages war upon Amalec to all generations.
“Hold up the victory banner of the Lord!” Moses declared. “The Lord will go on fighting the Amalekites for all generations!”
