THE BOOK OF Exodus

Exodus
17

¹Then all
the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the
Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and
camped in Rephidim; but there
was no water
for the people to drink. ²Therefore
the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may
drink.”

So Moses
said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?”

³And the
people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and
said, “Why is it you
have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock
with thirst?”

⁴So Moses
cried out to the Lord, saying,
“What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone
me!”

⁵And
the Lord said to
Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel.
Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and
go. ⁶Behold, I
will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock,
and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”

And Moses
did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷So he
called the name of the place Massah^£
and ^£Meribah,
because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted
the Lord, saying,
“Is the Lord among us
or not?”

⁸Now Amalek
came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. ⁹And Moses
said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I
will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” ¹⁰So Joshua
did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went
up to the top of the hill. ¹¹And so it
was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down
his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹²But Moses’
hands became heavy; so
they took a stone and put it under
him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side,
and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down
of the sun. ¹³So Joshua
defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

¹⁴Then
the Lord said to
Moses, “Write this for a
memorial in the book and recount it in the
hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from
under heaven.” ¹⁵And Moses
built an altar and called its name, ^£The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; ¹⁶for he
said, “Because the Lord has
sworn: the Lord will
have war with
Amalek from generation to generation.”