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 sons of Israel journey from the wilderness of Sin, on their journeys, by the command of YHWH, and encamp in Rephidim, and there is 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 strive with Moses, and say, “Give us water, and we drink.” And Moses says to them, “Why do you strive with me? Why do you try YHWH?”
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 thirst for water there, and the people murmur against Moses, and say, “Why [is] this [that] you have brought us up out of Egypt to put us to death, also our sons and our livestock, 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 cries to YHWH, saying, “What do I do to this people? Yet a little, and they have stoned 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 YHWH says to Moses, “Pass over before the people, and take with you from [the] elderly of Israel, and take your rod in your hand, with which you have struck the River, and you have gone.
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 am standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you have struck on the rock, and waters have come out from it, and the people have drunk.” And Moses does so before the eyes of [the] elderly 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 calls the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the strife of the sons of Israel, and because of their trying YHWH, saying, “Is YHWH in our midst or not?”
8 Then the descendants of the Amalek people-group came and fought against the Israeli people at Rephidim.
And Amalek comes, and fights with Israel in Rephidim,
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 says to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I am standing on the top of the hill, and the rod of God 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 does as Moses has said to him, to fight with Amalek, and Moses, Aaron, and Hur have gone up [to] the top of the height;
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 has come to pass, when Moses lifts up his hand, that Israel has been mighty, and when he lets his hands rest, that Amalek has been mighty.
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.
And the hands of Moses [are] heavy, and they take a stone and set [it] under him, and he sits on it, and Aaron and Hur have taken hold on his hands, one on this [side] and one on that [side]; and his hands are steadfast until the going in 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 weakens Amalek and his people by the mouth 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 YHWH says to Moses, “Write this, a memorial in a Scroll, and set [it] in the ears of Joshua, that I utterly wipe away the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens”;
15 Then Moses/I built a [stone] altar there and named it ‘Yahweh is [like] my flag’.
and Moses builds an altar, and calls its name YHWH-Nissi,
16 He/I said, “Hold high Yahweh’s flag! Yahweh will continue to fight against the Amalek people-group (forever/in all future generations)!”
and says, “Because a hand [is] on the throne of YAH, war [is] to YHWH with Amalek from generation [to] generation.”
