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Chapter 17

Water from the Rock. From the wilderness of Sin the whole Israelite community journeyed by stages, as the Lord directed, and encamped at Rephidim.(A)

But there was no water for the people to drink, (B)and so they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to a test?” Here, then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why then did you bring us up out of Egypt? To have us die of thirst with our children and our livestock?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” The Lord answered Moses: Go on ahead of the people, and take along with you some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the Nile. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.(C) Moses did this, in the sight of the elders of Israel. The place was named Massah and Meribah,[a] because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 17:7 Massah…Meribah: Hebrew words meaning, respectively, “the place of the test” and “the place of strife, of quarreling.”

Water From the Rock

17 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin,(A) traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim,(B) but there was no water(C) for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water(D) to drink.”(E)

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

But the people were thirsty(G) for water there, and they grumbled(H) against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die(I) of thirst?”

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

The 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 staff(K) with which you struck the Nile,(L) and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.(M) Strike(N) the rock, and water(O) will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah[a](P) and Meribah[b](Q) because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 17:7 Massah means testing.
  2. Exodus 17:7 Meribah means quarreling.

    Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
    as on the day of Massah in the desert.[a]
There your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me though they had seen my works.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 95:8 Meribah: lit., “contention”; the place where the Israelites quarreled with God. Massah: “testing,” the place where they put God to the trial, cf. Ex 17:7; Nm 20:13.

“Do not harden your hearts(A) as you did at Meribah,[a](B)
    as you did that day at Massah[b] in the wilderness,(C)
where your ancestors tested(D) me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 95:8 Meribah means quarreling.
  2. Psalm 95:8 Massah means testing.

Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”(A)

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Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 4:7 Deut. 6:16

12 Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”(A)

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12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 4:12 Deut. 6:16