The Death of Miriam

¹ The whole community of the Israelites came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh, where Miriam died and was buried.

Water from the Rock

² There was no water for the community, and they assembled together against Moses and against Aaron. ³ The people quarreled with Moses and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! ⁴ Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals? ⁵ Why have you brought us out of Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It has no grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. The glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ “Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock, so you shall give the community and their livestock drink.”

⁹ Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹ Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly. The community and also their livestock drank.

¹² The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me or set me apart as holy in the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

¹³ These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites complained against the Lord, and he proved himself holy to them.

Edom Refuses Passage

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying:
“Your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has happened to us. ¹⁵ Our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers. ¹⁶ When we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. We are in Kadesh, a city on the border of your territory.

¹⁷ Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard, nor will we drink from the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway. We will not turn away to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.”

¹⁸ Edom said to him, “You may not pass through us, or else we will come out with the sword against you.”

¹⁹ The Israelites said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Only let us pass through on foot–and nothing more.”

²⁰ He said, “You shall not pass through.” Edom came out against him with many peopl and with a strong hand. ²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.

The Death of Aaron

²² They traveled from Kadesh, and the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ²³ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the Israelites, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor ²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there.”

²⁷ Moses did as the Lord commanded. They went up onto Mount Hor in the sight of all the community. ²⁸ Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When the community saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron for 30 days, the entire house of Israel.

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