Exodus 17
1 All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled 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.
And so, the entire multitude of the sons of Israel, having set out from the desert of Sin in stages, according to the word of the Lord, made camp at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Therefore the people quarreled 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?”
And arguing against Moses, they said, “Give us water, so that we may drink.” And Moses answered them: “Why argue against me? For what reason do you tempt the Lord?”
3 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?”
And so the people were thirsty in that place, due to the scarcity of water, and they murmured against Moses, saying: “Why did you cause us to go out of Egypt, so as to kill us and our children, as well as our cattle, with thirst?”
4 Moses cried to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
Then Moses cried out to the Lord, saying: “What shall I do with this people? A little while more and they will stone me.”
5 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.
And the Lord said to Moses: “Go before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. And take in your hand the staff, with which you struck the river, and advance.
6 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.
Lo, I will stand in that place before you, on the rock of Horeb. And you shall strike the rock, and water will go forth from it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us, or not?”
And he called the name of that place ‘Temptation,’ because of the arguing of the sons of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying: “Is the Lord with us, or not?”
8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
And Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim.
9 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.”
And Moses said to Joshua: “Choose men. And when you go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”
10 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.
Joshua did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalek. But Moses and Aaron and Hur ascended to the top of the hill.
11 When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed. But when he released them a little while, Amalek overcame.
12 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.
Then the hands of Moses became heavy. And so, taking a stone, they placed it beneath him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur sustained his hands from both sides. And it happened that his hands did not tire until the setting of the sun.
13 Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
And Joshua put to flight Amalek and his people by the edge of the sword.
14 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.”
Then the Lord said to Moses: “Write this, as a memorial in a book, and deliver it to the ears of Joshua. For I will wipe away the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
15 Moses built an altar, and called its name “The LORD our Banner”.
And Moses built an altar. And he called its name, ‘The Lord, my Exaltation.’ For he said:
16 He said, “The LORD has sworn: ‘The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”
“The hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of the Lord, will be against Amalek from generation to generation.”
