Water from the Rock
1. And the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to another according to the command of the LORD. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.
2. So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
3. But the people thirsted there for water, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
4. Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!”
5. And the LORD answered Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6. Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb; when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7. And he named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
The Defeat of the Amalekites
8. At Rephidim, the Amalekites came and fought against Israel.
9. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”
10. Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11. As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed.
12. When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.
13. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.
14. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
15. And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.
16. He said, “Indeed, a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”