Exodus 17-19

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 17

Water from the Rock.^{[a] 1} The entire community of Israel pulled up their camp in the Desert of Sin and, as the Lord commanded, they moved by stages to their camp in Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. ² The people protested against Moses, saying, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why are you protesting against me? Why are you putting the Lord to the test?”

³ The people suffered from thirst because there was no water, so they murmured against Moses and said, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to die of thirst along with our children and our animals?” ⁴ Moses called upon the help of the Lord saying, “What will I do for this people? Only a little more and they will stone me.”

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Walk in front of the people and bring some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff with which you struck the Nile in your hand and go! ⁶ Behold, I will stand before you on the rock at Horeb. You will strike the rock, and water will come out for the people to drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ They called this place Massah^[b] and Meribah, because the children of Israel had protested and had put the Lord to the test, saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”

While Moses Prays, the Amalekites^[c] Are Defeated.^{[d] 8} Amalek came and fought against Israel in Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out to fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ Joshua did all that Moses had commanded him to do and he fought against Amalek while Moses, Aaron, and Hur stood on the top of the hill. ¹¹ When Moses lifted his hands, Israel was stronger, but when he lowered them, Amalek was stronger. ¹² Moses’ hands grew heavy as he tired, so they took a stone and placed it under him as a stool. Aaron and Hur stood on either side and held up his hands. Thus, his hands were held steady until the sun set. ¹³ Joshua defeated Amalek and its people, putting them to the sword.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it to Joshua: I will totally cancel the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.”

¹⁵ Moses built an altar, and he named it, “The Lord is my banner,” ¹⁶ and he said, “A hand is raised upon the throne of the Lord that there will be war against Amalek from one generation to the next.”

Chapter 18

Moses Visited by His Father-in-Law.^{[e] 1} Jethro, the priest of Midian and the father-in-law of Moses, came to know what God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

² Jethro brought Zipporah, the wife of Moses, with him, for he had sent her back to him, ³ and also her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for he had said, “I am a stranger in a strange land,” ⁴ and the other named Eliezer, for he had said, “The God of my father has come to my assistance and has freed me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

⁵ Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, and the sons and wife of Moses came to him in the desert where he was camped, near the mountain of God. ⁶ He had it announced to Moses, “It is I, Jethro, your father-in-law. I have come with your wife and your two sons.”

⁷ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. He bowed before him and kissed him. They inquired about each other’s health, and then went into their tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law what the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for the children of Israel, and also about all the difficulties that they had encountered during their journey, and from which the Lord had delivered them.

⁹ Jethro rejoiced over all the blessings that the Lord had shown to Israel when he liberated it from the hands of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who freed you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of Pharaoh. He delivered this people from the hands of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is the greatest of all gods because of what he has done to the Egyptians. He delivered them from their hands when they acted arrogantly.”

¹² Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, offered a burnt offering and sacrificed to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came and ate a banquet with the father-in-law of Moses before God.

¹³ Moses Institutes the Judges.^[f] The next day Moses sat in judgment over the people of Israel. All the people stood before Moses from morning until the evening. ¹⁴ Jethro, seeing what he was doing for the people, said to him, “What is this that you do for the people? Why do you sit in judgment alone, while the people stand before you from morning until evening?”

¹⁵ Moses answered his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire the will of God. ¹⁶ When they have some question, they come to me and I judge the matter between them and let them know the statutes of God and his laws.”

¹⁷ The father-in-law of Moses told him, “What you are doing is no good. ¹⁸ You will surely wear yourself out, you and the people with you, because this job is too difficult for you. You cannot do it alone. ¹⁹ Now, listen to me. I wish to give you some advice, and God be with you. You must act as the people’s representative before God and bring their cases before him. ²⁰ You will explain the decrees and the laws to them. You will direct them along the way that they should go and teach the things that they must do. ²¹ You will also choose virtuous men who fear God from among the people, honest men who are not filled with greed, and you will make them leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²² They must judge the people at all times. When there is an important matter, they will refer it to you, but they will judge all the minor issues. Thus, they will lighten the burden upon you, for they will carry it with you. ²³ If you do this thing and if God commands this of you, then you will be able to continue and this people will arrive in peace at its destination.”

²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law’s suggestion, and he did what he had suggested that he do. ²⁵ Moses chose capable men from among all the men of Israel, and he appointed them as leaders of the people, as leaders of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²⁶ They judged the people at all times. When there was a difficult matter, they referred it to Moses, but they themselves judged all the minor issues. ²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and Jethro returned to his own country.

The Covenant at Mount Sinai

The Covenant and the Ten Commandments^[g]

Chapter 19

God Proposes His Covenant.^{[h] 1} Three months to the day after the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, they arrived in the Sinai Desert. ² They left the camp at Rephidim and arrived in the Desert of Sinai. There Israel camped in front of the mountain.

³ Moses climbed up to meet God, and the Lord called out to him from the mountain, saying, “You will say this to the house of Jacob and announce it to the children of Israel: ⁴ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you here to me. ⁵ Now, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession from among all the peoples, for the entire earth is mine. ⁶ You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation for me.’ These are the words you will speak to Israel.”^[i]

⁷ Moses went and summoned the elders of the people and told them what the Lord had commanded him. ⁸ All the people answered together and said, “We will do what the Lord has said.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and told him what the people had said.

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to approach you in a thick cloud so that the people will hear when I speak to you and always believe in you.”

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes ¹¹ and have them ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai to visit all the people.

¹² “You shall establish a boundary around it, saying, ‘Take heed not to climb up the mountain or even touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain will be put to death.’

¹³ “No hand must touch that person, however, for he must be stoned or shot with an arrow. Whether it be a human or an animal, he is not to live. They can come up the mountain only when you blow the trumpet.”

¹⁴ Moses went down the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people and had them wash their clothes. ¹⁵ Then he said to the people, “Be ready in three days’ time. Abstain from sexual relations.”

¹⁶ The Great Theophany. On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, lightning, a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of loud trumpets. All the people in the camp were filled with fear.

¹⁷ Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They stood on foot at the base of the mountain.

¹⁸ Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord had descended upon it in fire and the smoke rose up like the smoke of a furnace. The entire mountain trembled. ¹⁹ The sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Moses spoke and God responded with the sound of a trumpet.

²⁰ The Lord thus descended upon Mount Sinai, on the mountain peak, and he called out to Moses upon the mountain peak. Moses went up the mountain.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to gaze upon the Lord; otherwise many will die.

²² “Let the priests consecrate themselves before they approach the Lord. Otherwise the Lord will burst forth upon them.”

²³ Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot climb up Mount Sinai, for you yourself have warned us saying, ‘Establish a boundary around the mountain and declare it to be holy.’ ”

²⁴ The Lord told him, “Go, descend, then come back up with Aaron. But the priests and the people are not to break through to climb up to the Lord. Otherwise, he will burst forth against them.”

²⁵ Moses went down and spoke to the people.