Numbers 20:2–13

²Now there was no waterⁿ for the community,^o and the people gathered in opposition^p to Moses and Aaron. ³They quarreled^q with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead^r before the Lord!^{s 4}Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness,^t that we and our livestock should die here?^{u 5}Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.^v And there is no water to drink!^w”

⁶Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting^x and fell facedown,^y and the glory of the Lord^z appeared to them. ⁷The Lord said to Moses, ⁸“Take the staff,^a and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.^b You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

⁹So Moses took the staff^c from the Lord’s presence,^d just as he commanded him. ¹⁰He and Aaron gathered the assembly together^e in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”^{f 11}Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water^g gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

¹²But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy^h in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”ⁱ

¹³These were the waters of Meribah,^aj where the Israelites quarreled^k with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.^l