Numbers 20

1 And the children of Israel, the whole gathering, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed at Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there. [a] 2 And there was no water for the gathering, and they banded together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses. They said, 3 “If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! 4 And why have you brought the gathering of the Lord up into this wilderness, to kill us and our cattle? 5 And why this? You brought us up out of Egypt so that we should come to this evil place — a place where nothing is sown, where there are no figs, no vines, no pomegranates, and no water to drink.”

6 And Moses and Aaron went from in front of the gathering to the door of the tent of witness and fell on their faces; and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 And the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 8 “Take your staff and call the gathering together, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock in front of them, and it will give its water. You are to bring water out of the rock for them, and give the gathering and their cattle a drink.” 9 And Moses took the staff that was before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded. 10 And Moses and Aaron called the gathering together in front of the rock, and he said to them, 10 “Listen to me, you rebels. Are we to bring you water out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and a great deal of water came out, and the gathering drank, and their cattle. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 12 “Because you did not trust me, to treat me as holy in front of the children of Israel, you will not bring this gathering into the land I have given them.” 13 This is the water of Strife, because the children of Israel spoke insolently before the Lord, and he was treated as holy among them. [b]

14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: 14 “This is what your brother Israel says. You know all the hardship that has come on us, 15 and how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt many days, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers harshly. 16 And we cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard our voice and sent a messenger and brought us out of Egypt. And now here we are in the town of Kadesh, at the edge of your borders. [c] 17 Let us pass through your land. We will not go through the fields or through the vineyards, and we will not drink water out of your cistern. We will go by the king's highway; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left until we have gone past your borders.” 18 And Edom said to him, 18 “You will not pass through me. If you do, I will come out to meet you with war.” 19 And the children of Israel said to him, 19 “We will go along by the mountain; and if I and my cattle drink any of your water, I will pay you for it. It is nothing at all — we will just go by the mountain.” 20 And he said, 20 “You will not pass through me.” 20 And Edom came out to meet him with a great army and a strong hand. 21 So Edom refused to let Israel pass through his borders, and Israel turned away from him.

22 And they set out from Kadesh; and the children of Israel, the whole gathering, came to Mount Hor. 23 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the borders of the land of Edom. He said, 24 “Let Aaron be gathered to his people; for you two will certainly not go into the land I have given the children of Israel, because you provoked me at the water of Strife. [d] 25 Take Aaron, and Eleazar his son, and bring them up Mount Hor in front of the whole gathering; 26 and take Aaron's garments off him and put them on Eleazar his son; and let Aaron die there and be gathered to his people.” 27 And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him, and took him up Mount Hor in front of the whole gathering. 28 And he took Aaron's garments off him and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 And the whole gathering saw that Aaron was dead, and they wept for Aaron thirty days, all the house of Israel.