Death of Miriam
20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the (A)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.
2 (B)There was no water for the congregation, (C)and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. 3 (D)The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “(E)If only we had perished (F)when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 (G)Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die [a]here? 5 Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? (H)It is not a place of [b]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and (I)fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
The Water of Meribah
8 “Take (J)the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”
9 So Moses took the rod (K)from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “(L)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and (M)water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “(N)Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 Those were the waters of [c](O)Meribah, [d]because the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.
14 From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to (P)the king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You (Q)know all the hardship that has befallen us; 15 that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. 16 But (R)when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent (S)an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17 Please (T)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”
18 (U)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through [e]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” 19 Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and (V)my livestock do drink any of your water, (W)then I will [f]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, [g]nothing else.” 20 But he said, “(X)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy [h]force and with a strong hand. 21 (Y)Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; (Z)so Israel turned away from him.
22 Now when they set out from (AA)Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
Death of Aaron
23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at (AB)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24 “Aaron will be (AC)gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because (AD)you rebelled against My [i]command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and his son (AE)Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; 26 and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be (AF)gathered to his people, and will die there.” 27 So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and (AG)put them on his son Eleazar, (AH)Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty (AI)days.
Footnotes
- Numbers 20:4 Lit there
- Numbers 20:5 Lit seed
- Numbers 20:13 I.e. contention
- Numbers 20:13 Or where
- Numbers 20:18 Lit me
- Numbers 20:19 Lit give
- Numbers 20:19 Or no great thing
- Numbers 20:20 Lit people
- Numbers 20:24 Lit mouth
Cross references
- Numbers 20:1 : Num 13:21; 27:14; 33:36
- Numbers 20:2 : Ex 17:1
- Numbers 20:2 : Num 16:19, 42
- Numbers 20:3 : Ex 17:2
- Numbers 20:3 : Num 14:2, 3
- Numbers 20:3 : Num 16:31-35
- Numbers 20:4 : Ex 17:3
- Numbers 20:5 : Num 16:14
- Numbers 20:6 : Num 14:5
- Numbers 20:8 : Ex 4:17, 20; 17:5, 6
- Numbers 20:9 : Num 17:10
- Numbers 20:10 : Ps 106:33
- Numbers 20:11 : Ps 78:16; Is 48:21; 1 Cor 10:4
- Numbers 20:12 : Num 20:24; 27:14; Deut 1:37; 3:26, 27
- Numbers 20:13 : Ex 17:7; Ps 95:8
- Numbers 20:14 : Gen 36:31-39; Deut 2:4
- Numbers 20:14 : Josh 2:9, 10; 9:9, 10, 24
- Numbers 20:16 : Ex 2:23; 3:7
- Numbers 20:16 : Ex 14:19
- Numbers 20:17 : Num 21:22
- Numbers 20:18 : Num 24:18
- Numbers 20:19 : Ex 12:38
- Numbers 20:19 : Deut 2:6, 28
- Numbers 20:20 : Judg 11:17
- Numbers 20:21 : Judg 11:17
- Numbers 20:21 : Deut 2:8
- Numbers 20:22 : Num 20:1, 14
- Numbers 20:23 : Num 33:37
- Numbers 20:24 : Gen 25:8
- Numbers 20:24 : Num 20:5, 10
- Numbers 20:25 : Num 3:4
- Numbers 20:26 : Num 20:24
- Numbers 20:28 : Ex 29:29
- Numbers 20:28 : Num 33:38; Deut 10:6; 32:50
- Numbers 20:29 : Gen 1:5; 50:3, 10; Deut 34:8