The people complain of thirst, and God tells Moses to strike a rock at Horeb for water. Amalek attacks, and Israel wins as long as Moses' hands are held up by Aaron and Hur.
1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin , after their journeys , according to the commandment of the LORD , and pitched in Rephidim : and there was no water for the people to drink .
2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses , and said , Give us water that we may drink . And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD ?
3 And the people thirsted there for water ; and the people murmured against Moses , and said , Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt , to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst ?
4 And Moses cried unto the LORD , saying , What shall I do unto this people ? they be almost ready to stone me.
5 And the LORD said unto Moses , Go on before the people , and take with thee of the elders of Israel ; and thy rod , wherewith thou smotest the river , take in thine hand , and go .
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb ; and thou shalt smite the rock , and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink . And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel .
7 And he called the name of the place Massah , and Meribah , because of the chiding of the children of Israel , and because they tempted the LORD , saying , Is the LORD among us, or not?
8 Then came Amalek , and fought with Israel in Rephidim .
9 And Moses said unto Joshua , Choose us out men , and go out , fight with Amalek : to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand .
10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek : and Moses , Aaron , and Hur went up to the top of the hill .
11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand , that Israel prevailed : and when he let down his hand , Amalek prevailed .
12 But Moses ' hands were heavy ; and they took a stone , and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands , the one on the one side , and the other on the other side ; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun .
13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword .
14 And the LORD said unto Moses , Write this for a memorial in a book , and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua : for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven .
15 And Moses built an altar , and called the name of it Jehovahnissi :
16 For he said , Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation .