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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Numbers 20 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/numbers/20.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/numbers/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Numbers 20</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../numbers/19.htm" title="Numbers 19">◄</a> Numbers 20 <a href="../numbers/21.htm" title="Numbers 21">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Water from a Rock</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_1"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.1" class="v4_20_1">1</span>The people of Israel arrived at the Zin Desert during the first month<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.20.1!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and set up camp near the town of Kadesh. It was there that Miriam died and was buried.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_2"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.2" class="v4_20_2">2</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Num.20.2!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The Israelites had no water, so they went to Moses and Aaron </span><span class="v4_20_3"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.3" class="v4_20_3">3</span>and complained, “Moses, we'd be better off if we had died along with the others in front of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s sacred tent.<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.20.3!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v4_20_4"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.4" class="v4_20_4">4</span>You brought us into this desert, and now we and our livestock are going to die! </span><span class="v4_20_5"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.5" class="v4_20_5">5</span>Egypt was better than this horrible place. At least there we had grain and figs and grapevines and pomegranates.<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.20.5!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> But now we don't even have any water.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_6"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.6" class="v4_20_6">6</span>Moses and Aaron went to the entrance to the sacred tent, where they bowed down. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> appeared to them in all of his glory </span><span class="v4_20_7"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.7-Num.20.8" class="v4_20_7">7-8</span>and said, “Moses, get your walking stick.<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.20.7-Num.20.8!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Then you and Aaron call the people together and command that rock to give you water. That's how you will provide water for the people of Israel and their livestock.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_9"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.9" class="v4_20_9">9</span>Moses obeyed and took his stick from the sacred tent. </span><span class="v4_20_10"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.10" class="v4_20_10">10</span>After he and Aaron had gathered the people around the rock, he said, “Look, you rebellious people, and you will see water flow from this rock!” </span><span class="v4_20_11"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.11" class="v4_20_11">11</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Num.20.11!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> He raised his stick in the air and struck the rock two times. At once, water gushed from the rock, and the people and their livestock had water to drink.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_12"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.12" class="v4_20_12">12</span>But the <span class="nd">Lord</span> said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did not respect me. And so, you will not be the ones to lead them into the land I have promised.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_13"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.13" class="v4_20_13">13</span>The Israelites had complained against the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, and he had shown them his holy power by giving them water to drink. So they named the place Meribah, which means “Complaining.”</span></p><h3 class="s1">Israel Isn't Allowed To Go through Edom</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_14"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.14" class="v4_20_14">14</span>Moses sent messengers from Israel's camp near Kadesh with this message for the king of Edom:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v4_20_14">We are Israelites, your own relatives, and we're sure you have heard the terrible things that have happened to us. </span><span class="v4_20_15"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.15" class="v4_20_15">15</span>Our ancestors settled in Egypt and lived there a long time. But later the Egyptians were cruel to us, </span><span class="v4_20_16"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.16" class="v4_20_16">16</span>and when we begged our <span class="nd">Lord</span> for help, he answered our prayer and brought us out of that land.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v4_20_16">Now we are camped at the border of your territory, near the town of Kadesh. </span><span class="v4_20_17"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.17" class="v4_20_17">17</span>Please let us go through your country. We won't go near your fields or vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. We will stay on the main road<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.20.17!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> until we leave your territory.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_18"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.18" class="v4_20_18">18</span>But the king of Edom answered, “No, I won't let you go through our country! And if you try, we will attack you.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_19"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.19" class="v4_20_19">19</span>Moses sent back this message: “We promise to stay on the main road, and if any of us or our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. We just want to pass through.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_20"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.20" class="v4_20_20">20</span>But the king insisted, “You can't go through our land!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_20">Then Edom sent out its strongest troops </span><span class="v4_20_21"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.21" class="v4_20_21">21</span>to keep Israel from passing through its territory. So the Israelites had to go in another direction.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Aaron Dies</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_22"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.22" class="v4_20_22">22</span>After the Israelites had left Kadesh and had gone as far as Mount Hor </span><span class="v4_20_23"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.23" class="v4_20_23">23</span>on the Edomite border, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> said, </span><span class="v4_20_24"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.24" class="v4_20_24">24</span>“Aaron, this is where you will die. You and Moses disobeyed me at Meribah, and so you will not enter the land I promised the Israelites. </span><span class="v4_20_25"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.25" class="v4_20_25">25</span>Moses, go with Aaron and his son Eleazar to the top of the mountain. </span><span class="v4_20_26"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.26" class="v4_20_26">26</span>Then take Aaron's priestly robe from him and place it on Eleazar. Aaron will die there.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_27"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.27" class="v4_20_27">27</span>Moses obeyed, and everyone watched as he and Aaron and Eleazar walked to the top of Mount Hor. </span><span class="v4_20_28"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.28" class="v4_20_28">28</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Num.20.28!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Moses then took the priestly robe from Aaron and placed it on Eleazar. Aaron died there.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_20_28">When Moses and Eleazar came down, </span><span class="v4_20_29"><span class="reftext" id="Num.20.29" class="v4_20_29">29</span>the people knew that Aaron had died, and they mourned his death for 30 days.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">first month: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 9.3.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.3 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">if we had died … sacred tent: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 16.41-49.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.5 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">pomegranates: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 13.23,24.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.7,8 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">walking stick: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">A symbol of his authority.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.17 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the main road: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text has “the King's Highway,” which was an important trade route through what is today the country of Jordan. It connected the city of Damascus in Syria with the Gulf of Aqaba in southern Jordan.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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