Exodus 17–19

1Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

2So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”

3But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

4Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”

5And the LORD said to 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.

6Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And 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.

7He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

8After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.

9So 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.”

10Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed.

12When 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.

13So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.

14Then 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.”

15And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.

16“Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

1Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her,

3along with her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

4The other son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

5Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the desert, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.

6He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent.

8Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.

9And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had rescued from the hand of the Egyptians.

10Jethro declared, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians.

11Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”

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

13The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening.

14When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone as judge, with all the people standing around you from morning till evening?”

15“Because the people come to me to inquire of God,” Moses replied.

16“Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”

17But Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.

18Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.

19Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their causes to Him.

20Teach them the statutes and laws, and show them the way to live and the work they must do.

21Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

22Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened as they share it with you.

23If you follow this advice and God so directs you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”

24Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.

25So Moses chose capable men from all Israel and made them heads over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

26And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.

27Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own land.

1In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.

2After they had set out from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

3Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel:

4‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.

5Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

6And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

8And all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought their words back to the LORD.

9The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in you.” And Moses relayed to the LORD what the people had said.

10Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes

11and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

12And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

13No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows—whether man or beast, he must not live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

14When Moses came down from the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.

15“Be prepared for the third day,” he said to the people. “Do not draw near to a woman.”

16On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

18Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

19And as the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.

20The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the summit. So Moses went up,

21and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.

22Even the priests who approach the LORD must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”

23But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, for You solemnly warned us, ‘Put a boundary around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

24And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”

25So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.