17The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin,^d traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim,^e but there was no water^f for the people to drink. ²So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water^g to drink.”^h

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”ⁱ

³But the people were thirsty^j for water there, and they grumbled^k against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die^l of thirst?”

⁴Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone^m me.”

⁵The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staffⁿ with which you struck the Nile,^o and go. ⁶I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.^p Strike^q the rock, and water^r will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷And he called the place Massah^a^s and Meribah^b^t because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

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Footnotes

aMassah means testing.
bMeribah means quarreling.

Cross references

dSee Ex 16:1
ever 8; Ex 19:2; Nu 33:15
f Nu 20:5; 21:5; 33:14
g Nu 20:2; 33:14; Ps 107:5
hSee Ex 14:12
i Dt 6:16; Ps 78:18, 41; 106:14; Mt 4:7; 1 Co 10:9
jSee Ex 15:22
kSee Ex 15:24
lSee Ex 14:11
m Nu 14:10; 1 Sa 30:6; See Jn 8:59
nSee Ex 4:2; See 10:12–13
o Ex 7:20
pSee Ex 3:1
q Nu 20:8
r Nu 20:11; Dt 8:15; Jdg 15:19; 2 Ki 3:20; Ne 9:15; Ps 74:15; 78:15–16; 105:41; 107:35; 114:8; Isa 30:25; 35:6; 43:19; 48:21; 1 Co 10:4
s Dt 6:16; 9:22; 33:8; Ps 95:8
t Nu 20:13, 24; 27:14; Ps 81:7; 106:32