Bible Gateway passage: Numbers 20 - New King James Version (2024)

Moses’ Error at Kadesh^(A)

20Then^(B) the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in ^(C)Kadesh; and ^(D)Miriam died there and was buried there.

^2(E)Now there was no water for the congregation; ^(F)so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. ³And the people ^(G)contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died ^(H)when our brethren died before the Lord! ^4(I)Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? ⁵And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” ⁶So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and ^(J)they ^[a]fell on their faces. And ^(K)the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

⁷Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^8(L)“Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus ^(M)you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” ⁹So Moses took the rod ^(N)from before the Lord as He commanded him.

¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, ^(O)“Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; ^(P)and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

¹²Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because ^(Q)you did not believe Me, to ^(R)hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

^13(S)This was the water of ^[b]Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and He was hallowed among them.

Passage Through Edom Refused

^14(T)Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of ^(U)Edom. ^(V)“Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us, ^15(W)how our fathers went down to Egypt, ^(X)and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, ^(Y)and the Egyptians ^[c]afflicted us and our fathers. ^16(Z)When we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and ^(AA)sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. ¹⁷Please ^(AB)let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King’s Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’ ”

¹⁸Then ^(AC)Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.”

¹⁹So the children of Israel said to him, “We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, ^(AD)then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”

²⁰Then he said, ^(AE)“You shall not pass through.” So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand. ²¹Thus Edom ^(AF)refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel ^(AG)turned away from him.

Death of Aaron

²²Now the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from ^(AH)Kadesh ^(AI)and came to Mount Hor. ²³And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying: ²⁴“Aaron shall ^[d]be ^(AJ)gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah. ^25(AK)Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there.” ²⁷So Moses did just as the Lord commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ^28(AL)Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and ^(AM)Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron ^(AN)thirty days.