Numbers 20

¹And the people of Israel , the whole congregation , came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month , and the people stayed in Kadesh . And Miriam died there and was buried there .

²Now there was no water for the congregation . And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron .

³And the people quarreled with Moses and said , Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!

⁴Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness , that we should die here , both we and our cattle ?

⁵And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place ? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates , and there is no water to drink .

⁶Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces . And the glory of the Lord appeared to them,

⁷and the Lord spoke to Moses , saying ,

⁸Take the staff , and assemble the congregation , you and Aaron your brother , and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water . So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle .

⁹And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

¹⁰Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock , and he said to them, Hear now , you rebels : shall we bring water for you out of this rock ?

¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice , and water came out abundantly , and the congregation drank , and their livestock .

¹²And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron , Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel , therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.

¹³These are the waters of Meribah , where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy .

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom : Thus says your brother Israel : You know all the hardship that we have met :

¹⁵how our fathers went down to Egypt , and we lived in Egypt a long time . And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers .

¹⁶And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt . And here we are in Kadesh , a city on the edge of your territory .

¹⁷Please let us pass through your land . We will not pass through field or vineyard , or drink water from a well . We will go along the King’s Highway . We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory .

¹⁸But Edom said to him, You shall not pass through , lest I come out with the sword against you.

¹⁹And the people of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway , and if we drink of your water , I and my livestock , then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot , nothing more .

²⁰But he said , You shall not pass through . And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force .

²¹Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory , so Israel turned away from him.

²²And they journeyed from Kadesh , and the people of Israel , the whole congregation , came to Mount Hor .

²³And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor , on the border of the land of Edom ,

²⁴Let Aaron be gathered to his people , for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel , because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah .

²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor .

²⁶And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son . And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there.

²⁷Moses did as the Lord commanded . And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation .

²⁸And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son . And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain . Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain .

²⁹And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished , all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days .