Numbers 20

1 And the sons of Israel, all the congregation, come [into] the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people abide in Kadesh; and Miriam dies there and is buried there.

In the first month all the children of Israel came into the waste land of Zin, and put up their tents in Kadesh; there death came to Miriam, and they put her body to rest in the earth.

2 And there has been no water for the congregation, and they are assembled against Moses and against Aaron,

And there was no water for the people: and they came together against Moses and against Aaron.

3 and the people strive with Moses and speak, saying, “And oh that we had expired when our brothers expired before YHWH!

And the people were angry with Moses and said, If only death had overtaken us when our brothers came to their death before the Lord!

4 And why have you brought in the assembly of YHWH to this wilderness to die there, we and our beasts?

Why have you taken the Lord's people into this waste, for death to come to us and to our cattle there?

5 And why have you brought us up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? [It is] not a place of seed, and fig, and vine, and pomegranate; and there is no water to drink.”

Why have you made us come out of Egypt into this evil place? This is no place of seed or figs or vines or other fruits, and there is no water for drinking.

6 And Moses and Aaron go in from the presence of the assembly to the opening of the Tent of Meeting and fall on their faces, and the glory of YHWH is seen by them.

Then Moses and Aaron went away from the people to the door of the Tent of meeting; and, falling on their faces there, they saw the glory of the Lord.

7 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

And the Lord said to Moses,

8 “Take the rod and assemble the congregation—you and your brother Aaron—and you have spoken to the rock before their eyes, and it has given its water, and you have brought out water to them from the rock, and have watered the congregation and their beasts.”

Take the rod, you and Aaron, your brother, and make all the people come together, and before their eyes give orders to the rock to give out its water; and so make water come out of the rock for them, and give the people and their cattle drink.

9 And Moses takes the rod from before YHWH as He has commanded him,

And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he gave him orders.

10 and Moses and Aaron assemble the assembly to the front of the rock, and he says to them, “Now hear, O rebels, do we bring out water to you from this rock?”

Then Moses and Aaron made the people come together in front of the rock, and he said to them, Give ear now, you people whose hearts are turned from the Lord; are we to get water for you out of the rock?

11 And Moses lifts up his hand and strikes the rock with his rod twice; and much water comes out, and the congregation drinks, and their beasts [drink].

And lifting up his hand, Moses gave the rock two blows with his rod: and water came streaming out, and the people and their cattle had drink enough.

12 And YHWH says to Moses and to Aaron, “Because you have not believed in Me to sanctify Me before the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore you do not bring in this assembly to the land which I have given to them.”

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you had not enough faith in me to keep my name holy before the children of Israel, you will not take this people into the land which I have given them.

13 These [are] the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel have “striven” with YHWH, and He is sanctified among them.

These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel went against the Lord, and they saw that he was holy among them.

14 And Moses sends messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “Thus said your brother Israel: You have known all the travail which has found us,

Then Moses sent men from Kadesh to the king of Edom to say to him, Your brother Israel says, You have knowledge of all the things we have been through;

15 that our fathers go down to Egypt, and we dwell in Egypt [for] many days, and the Egyptians do evil to us and to our fathers;

How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we were living in Egypt for a long time; and the Egyptians were cruel to us and to our fathers:

16 then we cry to YHWH, and He hears our voice, and sends a Messenger, and is bringing us out of Egypt; and behold, we [are] in Kadesh, a city [in] the extremity of your border.

And the Lord gave ear to the voice of our cry, and sent an angel and took us out of Egypt: and now we are in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your land;

17 Please let us pass over through your land; we do not pass over through a field or through a vineyard, nor do we drink waters of a well; we go the way of the king, we do not turn aside [to] the right or left until we pass over your border.”

Let us now go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, till we have gone past the limits of your land.

18 And Edom says to him, “You do not pass over through me, lest I come out to meet you with the sword.”

And Edom said, You are not to go through my land, for if you do I will come out against you with the sword.

19 And the sons of Israel say to him, “We go in the highway, and if we drink of your waters—I and my livestock—then I have given their price; only, let me pass over on my feet, nothing [more].”

And the children of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway: and if we or our cattle take of your water, we will give you a price for it: only let us go through on our feet, nothing more.

20 And he says, “You do not pass over”; and Edom comes out to meet him with many people and with a strong hand;

But he said, You are not to go through. And Edom came out against them in his strength, with a great army.

21 and Edom refuses to permit Israel to pass over through his border, and Israel turns aside from off him.

So Edom would not let Israel go through his land; and Israel went in another direction.

22 And the sons of Israel, all the congregation, journey from Kadesh and come to Mount Hor,

And they went on from Kadesh, and came, with all their people, to Mount Hor.

23 and YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron in Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, saying,

And at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

24 “Aaron is gathered to his people, for he does not go into the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because that you provoked My mouth at the waters of Meribah.

Aaron will be put to rest with his people; he will not go into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you went against my word at the waters of Meribah.

25 Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and cause them to go up Mount Hor,

So take Aaron and Eleazar, his son, up into Mount Hor;

26 and strip Aaron of his garments, and you have clothed his son Eleazar [with] them, and Aaron is gathered, and dies there.”

And take Aaron's robes off him and put them on Eleazar, his son: and death will come to Aaron there, and he will be put to rest with his people.

27 And Moses does as YHWH has commanded, and they go up to Mount Hor before the eyes of all the congregation,

So Moses did as the Lord had said, and before the eyes of all the people they went up Mount Hor.

28 and Moses strips Aaron of his garments, and clothes his son Eleazar with them, and Aaron dies there on the top of the mountain; and Moses comes down—Eleazar also—from the mountain,

And Moses took off Aaron's robes, and put them on Eleazar, his son; and there on the top of the mountain death came to Aaron: then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

29 and all the congregation sees that Aaron has expired, and all the house of Israel laments Aaron [for] thirty days.

And when the people saw that Aaron was dead, all the children of Israel gave themselves up to weeping for him for thirty days.