Exodus 17-18

GOD’S WORD Translation

The Lord Provides Water for the Israelites from a Rock

17 The whole community of Israelites left the desert of Sin and traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded them. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So they complained to Moses by saying, “Give us water to drink!”

Moses said to them, “Why are you complaining to me? Why are you testing the Lord?”

³ But the people were thirsty for water there. They complained to Moses and asked, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it to make us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst?”

⁴ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They’re almost ready to stone me!”

⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Bring some of the leaders of Israel with you, and go to where the people can see you. Take the staff you used to strike the Nile River. ⁶ I’ll be standing in front of you there by a rock at Mount Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

Moses did this while the leaders of Israel watched him.

⁷ He named that place Massah [Testing] and Meribah [Complaining] because the Israelites complained and because they tested the Lord, asking, “Is the Lord with us or not?”

God Defeats the Amalekites

⁸ The Amalekites fought Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men. Then fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill. I will hold in my hand the staff God told me to take along.”

¹⁰ Joshua did as Moses told him and fought the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel would win, but as soon as he put his hands down, the Amalekites would start to win. ¹² Eventually, Moses’ hands felt heavy. So Aaron and Hur took a rock, put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron held up one hand, and Hur held up the other. His hands remained steady until sunset. ¹³ So Joshua defeated the Amalekite army in battle.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Write this reminder on a scroll, and make sure that Joshua hears it, too: I will completely erase any memory of the Amalekites from the earth.”

¹⁵ Moses built an altar and called it The Lord Is My Banner. ¹⁶ He said, “Because a hand was lifted against the Lord’s throne, he will be at war against the Amalekites from one generation to the next.”

Moses’ Father-in-law Visits Israel’s Camp

18 Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything God had done for Moses and his people Israel and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² When Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had taken her in, ³ along with her two sons. The one son was named Gershom [Foreigner], because Moses said, “I was a foreigner living in another country.” ⁴ The name of the other was Eliezer [My God Is a Helper], because he said, “My father’s God was my helper. He saved me from Pharaoh’s death sentence.”

⁵ Moses’ father-in-law Jethro brought Moses’ sons and wife to Moses in the desert where he was camped near the mountain of God. ⁶ Jethro had sent word to Moses, “I’m coming to ⌞visit⌟ you, ⌞and I’m bringing⌟ your wife and her two sons.”

⁷ So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. Moses bowed with his face touching the ground and kissed Jethro. After they asked each other how they were, they went into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel, all the hardships they had had on the way, and how the Lord had saved them.

⁹ Jethro was delighted ⌞to hear⌟ about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the Egyptians. ¹⁰ He said, “Thank the Lord! He rescued you from the Egyptians and their Pharaoh and rescued these people from the control of the Egyptians, ¹¹ who treated Israel with contempt. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods.”

¹² Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the leaders of Israel came to eat the meal with Moses’ father-in-law in God’s presence.

¹³ The next day Moses was settling disagreements among the people. The people stood around Moses from morning until evening. ¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw everything Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “Why are you doing this for the people? Why do you sit here alone, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”

¹⁵ Moses answered his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to find out God’s will. ¹⁶ Whenever they have a disagreement and bring it to me, I decide which person is right, and I tell them God’s laws and instructions.”

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you’re doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and your people will wear yourselves out. This is too much work for you. You can’t do it alone! ¹⁹ Now listen to me, and I’ll give you some advice. May God be with you! You must be the people’s representative to God and bring their disagreements to him. ²⁰ You must instruct them in the laws and the teachings, show them how to live, and tell them what to do.

²¹ “But choose capable men from all the people, men who fear God, men you can trust, men who hate corruption. Put them in charge of groups of 1,000, or 100, or 50, or 10 people. ²² Let them be the ones who usually settle disagreements among the people. They should bring all important cases to you, but they should settle all minor cases themselves. Make it easier for yourself by letting them help you. ²³ If God commands you, and you do this, you will be able to continue your work, and all these people will have their disagreements settled so that they can go home.”

²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵ Moses chose capable men from all the Israelites and put them in charge of groups of 1,000, or 100, or 50, or 10 people. ²⁶ These men were the ones who usually settled disagreements among the people. They would bring difficult cases to Moses, but they settled all minor ones themselves.

²⁷ Moses sent his father-in-law on his way. So Jethro went back to his own country.