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Numbers 20:2–7

The Waters of Meribah

mNow there was no water for the congregation. nAnd they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people oquarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished pwhen our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And qwhy 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.” Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and rfell on their faces. sAnd the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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Numbers 20:2–7 — The New International Version (NIV)

Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses,

Numbers 20:2–7 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Numbers 20:2–7 — New Living Translation (NLT)

There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron. The people blamed Moses and said, “If only we had died in the Lord’s presence with our brothers! Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord’s people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock? Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place? This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink!”

Moses and Aaron turned away from the people and went to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where they fell face down on the ground. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord said to Moses,

Numbers 20:2–7 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Numbers 20:2–7 — New Century Version (NCV)

There was no water for the people, so they came together against Moses and Aaron. They argued with Moses and said, “We should have died in front of the Lord as our brothers did. Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? Are we and our animals to die here? Why did you bring us from Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain, figs, grapevines, or pomegranates, and there’s no water to drink!”

So Moses and Aaron left the people and went to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. There they bowed facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses,

Numbers 20:2–7 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And there was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people strove with Moses, and spake, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah! And why have ye brought the assembly of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces: and the glory of Jehovah appeared unto them. And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

Numbers 20:2–7 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And there was no water for the assembly, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people contended with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah! And why have ye brought the congregation of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts? And why have ye made us to go up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from before the congregation to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the glory of Jehovah appeared to them. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Numbers 20:2–7 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Since the community was without water, they came together to confront Moses and Aaron. The people complained to Moses and said, “If only we had died when the other Israelites died in the Lord’s presence! Did you bring the Lord’s assembly into this desert just to have us and our animals die here? Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us into this terrible place? This is no place to plant crops. Even figs, grapes, and pomegranates won’t grow here. And there’s no water to drink!” 

Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting. Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 

The Lord said to Moses,

Numbers 20:2–7 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

There was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord. Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!”

Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting. They fell down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord spoke to Moses,

Numbers 20:2–7 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and against Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had died when our kindred died before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.” Then Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting; they fell on their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Numbers 20:2–7 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

There was no water for the community, and they were gathered before Moses and Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we died when our brothers were dying before Yahweh! Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh, us and our livestock, into this desert to die here? Why have you brought us from Egypt to bring us to this bad place? It is not a place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranate trees, and there is not water to drink.” And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of assembly. They fell on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Numbers 20:2–7 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

The people didn’t have any water. So they gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. They argued with Moses. They said, “We wish we had died when our people fell dead in front of the Lord.

“Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? We and our livestock will die here. Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Why did you bring us to this terrible place? It doesn’t have any grain or figs. It doesn’t have any grapes or pomegranates. There isn’t even any water for us to drink!”

Moses and Aaron left the people. They went to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. There they fell with their faces to the ground.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,

Numbers 20:2–7 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron.

The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!

Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here?

Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.”

Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them;

and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,


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