The Death of Miriam
1And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came kinto the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And lMiriam died there and was buried there.
The Waters of Meribah
2mNow there was no water for the congregation. nAnd they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3And the people oquarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished pwhen our brothers perished before the Lord! 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.
The Death of Aaron
22And they journeyed from pKadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to qMount Hor. 23And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, 24r“Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because syou rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. 25Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor. 26And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron rshall be gathered to his people and shall die there.” 27Moses did as the Lord commanded. And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28tAnd Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there uon the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, vall the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.
Footnotes
- 1 20:13 Meribah means quarreling
The Partial Kingdom: God’s Place
Numbers 1:1 – Joshua 24:33 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 45:22 • ID: 2388Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.