Exodus 17
1 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.
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.
2 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]?”
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?
3 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]?”
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?
4 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!”
And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, What shall I do to this people? yet a little while and they will stone me.
5 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].
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.
6 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].
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.
7 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.
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?
8 Then the descendants of the Amalek people-group came and fought against the Israeli people at Rephidim.
And Amalec came and fought with Israel in Raphidin.
9 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.”
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.
10 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].
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.
11 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.
And it came to pass, when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hands, Amalec prevailed.
12 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.
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.
13 So Joshua and the men with him completely defeated the Amalek people-group, using their swords [to fight against them].
And Joshua routed Amalec and all his people with the slaughter of the sword.
14 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.”
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.
15 Then Moses/I built a [stone] altar there and named it ‘Yahweh is [like] my flag’.
And Moses built an altar to the Lord, and called the name of it, The Lord my Refuge.
16 He/I said, “Hold high Yahweh’s flag! Yahweh will continue to fight against the Amalek people-group (forever/in all future generations)!”
For with a secret hand the Lord wages war upon Amalec to all generations.
