< Numbers 20 >

1 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
And the children of Israel, and all the multitude came into the desert of Sin, in the first month: and the people abode in Cades. And Mary died there, and was buried in the same place.
2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
And the people wanting water, came together against Moses and Aaron:
3 And the people strove with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
And making a sedition, they said: Would God we had perished among our brethren before the Lord.
4 And why have ye brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our cattle?
Why have you brought out the church of the Lord into the wilderness, that both we and our cattle should die?
5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
Why have you made us come up out of Egypt, and have brought us into this wretched place which cannot be sowed, nor bringeth forth figs, nor vines, nor pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink?
6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.
And Moses and Aaron leaving the multitude, went into the tabernacle of the covenant, and fell flat upon the ground, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure, a fountain of living water, that being satisfied, they may cease to murmur. And the glory of the Lord appeared over them.
7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
8 Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.
Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield waters. And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all the multitude and their cattle shall drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he had commanded him,
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?
And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he said to them: Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring you forth water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.
And when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank,
12 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not bring these people into the land, which I will give them.
13 These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.
14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
In the mean time Moses sent messengers from Cades to the king of Edom, to say: Thus saith thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the labour that hath come upon us:
15 how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians evil entreated us, and our fathers:
In what manner our fathers went down into Egypt, and there we dwelt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.
16 and when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
And how we cried to the Lord, and he heard us, and sent an angel, who hath brought us out of Egypt. Lo, we are now in the city of Cades, which is in the uttermost of thy borders,
17 let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king’s [high] way, we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border.
And we beseech thee that we may have leave to pass through thy country. We will not go through the fields, nor through the vineyards, we will not drink the waters of thy wells, but we will go by the common highway, neither turning aside to the right hand, nor to the left, till we are past thy borders.
18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against thee.
And Edom answered them: Thou shalt not pass by me: if thou dost I will come out armed against thee.
19 And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go up by the highway: and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof: let me only, without [doing] any thing [else], pass through on my feet.
And the children of Israel said: We will go by the beaten way: and if we and our cattle drink of thy waters, we will give thee what is just: there shall be no difficulty in the price, only let us pass speedily.
20 And he said, Thou shalt not pass through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.
But he answered: Thou shalt not pass. And immediately he came forth to meet them with an infinite multitude, and a strong hand,
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.
Neither would he condescend to their desire to grant them passage through his borders. Wherefore Israel turned another way from him.
22 And they journeyed from Kadesh: and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came unto mount Hor.
And when they had removed the camp from Cades, they came to mount Her, which is in the borders of the land of Edom:
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,
Where the Lord spoke to Moses:
24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.
Let Aaron, saith he, go to his people: for he shall not go into the land which I have given the children of Israel, because he was incredulous to my words, at the waters of contradiction.
25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:
Take Aaron and his son with him, and bring them up into mount Hor:
26 and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered [unto his people], and shall die there.
And when thou hast stripped the father of his vesture, thou shalt vest therewith Eleazar his son: Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and die there.
27 And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
Moses did as the Lord had commanded: and they went up into mount Hor before all the multitude.
28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.
And when he had stripped Aaron of his vestments, he vested Eleazar his son with them. And Aaron being dead in the top of the mountain, he came down with Eleazar.
29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
And all the multitude seeing that Aaron was dead, mourned for him thirty days throughout all their families.

< Numbers 20 >