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.
All the congregation of the children of Israel travelled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to the LORD’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but 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]?”
Therefore the people quarrelled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test 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]?”
The people were thirsty for water there; so the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, 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!”
Moses cried to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to 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].
The LORD said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and 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 will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders 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.
He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarrelled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD amongst us, or not?”
8 Then the descendants of the Amalek people-group came and fought against the Israeli people at Rephidim.
Then Amalek came and fought 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.”
Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out to fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod 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].
So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur 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.
When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek 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 Moses’ hands were heavy; so they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset.
13 So Joshua and the men with him completely defeated the Amalek people-group, using their swords [to fight against them].
Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge 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.”
The LORD said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”
15 Then Moses/I built a [stone] altar there and named it ‘Yahweh is [like] my flag’.
Moses built an altar, and called its name “The LORD our Banner”.
16 He/I said, “Hold high Yahweh’s flag! Yahweh will continue to fight against the Amalek people-group (forever/in all future generations)!”
He said, “The LORD has sworn: ‘The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”
