Numbers 20:4–21

⁴Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? ⁵And ^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.” ⁶Then 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, ⁷and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^8t“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So ^uyou shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” ⁹And Moses took the staff ^vfrom before the Lord, as he commanded him.

Moses Strikes the Rock

¹⁰Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, ^w“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, ^uand water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. ¹²And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because ^xyou did not believe in me, ^yto 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.” ^13zThese are the waters of Meribah,¹ where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.

Edom Refuses Passage

^14aMoses sent messengers from Kadesh to ^bthe king of Edom: “Thus says ^cyour brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: ^15dhow our fathers went down to Egypt, ^eand we lived in Egypt a long time. ^fAnd the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. ¹⁶And ^gwhen we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and ^hsent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ⁱPlease let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, ^jor 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, ^kand if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, ^lthen I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” ²⁰But he said, ^m“You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. ²¹Thus Edom ⁿrefused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel ^oturned away from him.