Exodus 17
1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and [there was] no water for the people to drink.
Then all the Israelites left the Desert of Sin, going from place to place as they followed the Lord's commands. They camped at Rephidim, but there wasn't any water for the people to drink.
2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
Some of them came and complained to Moses, saying, “Give us water to drink!” Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me?” Moses asked. “Why are you trying to challenge the Lord?”
3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore [is] this [that] thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
But the people were so thirsty for water there that they went on complaining to Moses, saying, “Why did you have to bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us and our children and livestock by thirst?”
4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I going to do with these people? A bit more of this and they're going to stone me!”
5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
The Lord told Moses, “Go ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take with you the walking stick you used to hit the Nile, and just go on ahead.
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Look, I will stand there beside you by the rock at Horeb. When you hit the rock water will pour out for the people to drink.” So Moses did this as the elders of Israel watched.
7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
He called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites argued there, and because they challenged the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord with us, or not?”
8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Then some Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
Moses told Joshua, “Choose some of men and go out and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I'll stand on the top of this hill holding the walking stick of God.”
10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
Joshua did what Moses told him and fought the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of the hill.
11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
As long as Moses held up the walking stick his hands, the Israelites were the ones winning, but when he lowered them, it was the Amalekites.
12 But Moses’ hands [were] heavy; and they took a stone, and put [it] under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
So when Moses' hands became heavy, the others took a stone and put it under him for him to sit on. Aaron and Hur stood on each side of Moses and held his hands up. In this way his hands were kept firmly up until the sun went down.
13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
As a result Joshua defeated the Amalekite army.
14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this [for] a memorial in a book, and rehearse [it] in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
The Lord told Moses, “Write all this down on a scroll as a reminder and read it out loud to Joshua, because I'm going to completely wipe out the Amalekites so nobody on earth will remember them.”
15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:
Moses built an altar and called it “the Lord is my banner of victory.”
16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn [that] the LORD [will have] war with Amalek from generation to generation.
“Hold up the victory banner of the Lord!” Moses declared. “The Lord will go on fighting the Amalekites for all generations!”
