⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone^(A) me.”

⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff^(B) with which you struck the Nile,^(C) and go. ⁶ I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.^(D) Strike^(E) the rock, and water^(F) will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the place Massah^[a](G) and Meribah^[b](H) because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

⁸ “Take the staff,^(A) and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.^(B) You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the staff^(C) from the Lord’s presence,^(D) just as he commanded him. ¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the assembly together^(E) in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”^{(F) 11} Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water^(G) gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy^(H) in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”^(I)