1 The Israelites, the whole community, arrived in the first month at the desert of Zin. The people settled at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
2 There was no water for the community, so they banded together against Moses and Aaron.
3 The people laid the blame on Moses. 'We would rather have died', they said, 'as our brothers died before Yahweh!
4 Why have you brought Yahweh's community into this desert, for us and our livestock to die here?
5 Why did you lead us out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place? It is a place unfit for sowing, it has no figs, no vines, no pomegranates, and there is not even water to drink!'
6 Leaving the assembly, Moses and Aaron went to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They threw themselves on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them.
7 Yahweh then spoke to Moses and said,
8 'Take the branch and call the community together, you and your brother Aaron. Then, in full view of them, order this rock to release its water. You will release water from the rock for them and provide drink for the community and their livestock.'
9 Moses took up the branch from before Yahweh, as he had directed him.
10 Moses and Aaron then called the assembly together in front of the rock. He then said to them, 'Listen now, you rebels. Shall we make water gush from this rock for you?'
11 Moses then raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the branch; water gushed out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 Yahweh then said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not believe that I could assert my holiness before the Israelites' eyes, you will not lead this assembly into the country which I am giving them.'
13 These were the Waters of Meribah, where the Israelites laid the blame on Yahweh and where, by their means, he asserted his holiness.
14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh: 'To the king of Edom. Your brother Israel says this: You are aware of the great hardships we have encountered.
15 Our ancestors went down to Egypt and there we stayed for a long time. But the Egyptians treated us badly, as they had our ancestors.
16 When we appealed to Yahweh, he heard our cry and, sending an angel, brought us out of Egypt, and here we are, now, at Kadesh, a town on the borders of your territory.
17 We ask permission to pass through your country. We shall not go through the fields or vineyards; we shall not drink the water from the wells; we shall keep to the king's highway without turning to right or left until we have passed through your territory.
18 To which, Edom replied, 'You will not pass through my country; if you do, I shall oppose you by force of arms.'
19 To which the Israelites replied, 'We shall keep to the high road; if I and my flocks drink any of your water, I am willing to pay for it. All I am asking is to pass through on foot.'
20 Edom replied: 'You shall not pass,' and Edom opposed them in great numbers and great force.
21 At Edom's refusal to grant Israel passage through his territory, Israel turned away.
22 They set out from Kadesh, and the Israelites, the whole community, came to Mount Hor.
23 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the frontier of Edom, and said,
24 'Aaron is to be gathered to his people; he will not enter the country which I have given to the Israelites, since you both disobeyed my order at the Waters of Meribah.
25 Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor.
26 Then take Aaron's robes off him and dress his son Eleazar in them. Aaron will then be gathered to his people; that is where he will die.'
27 Moses did as Yahweh ordered. With the whole community watching, they went up Mount Hor.
28 Moses took Aaron's robes off him and dressed his son Eleazar in them, and there Aaron died, on the mountain-top. Moses and Eleazar then came back down the mountain.
29 The whole community saw that Aaron had died, and for thirty days the whole House of Israel mourned for Aaron.
Versículos relacionados com Numbers, 20:
Numbers 20 narrates the death of Miriam, sister of Moses, and the lack of water for the community of Israel, who ends up generating a series of conflicts. Moses and Aaron go to the tabernacle to seek God's guidance, and he instructs Moses to speak to the rock to give the people water. However, Moses, annoyed by the complaints of the people, ends up hurting the rock with his rod, which displeases God. Below are five verses related to the topics covered in numbers 20:
Psalm 106:32-33: "With the water of the strife they made them angry, and badly succeeded Moses because of them. For they exacerbated their Spirit, so that he spoke hastily with his lips." This psalm refers to the episode narrated in numbers 20, in which the people of Israel complain about the lack of water and Moses ends up acting impulsively and hurting the rock with their stick.
Isaiah 48:21: "They had no thirsty when he took them through the deserts; he made water flow from the rock to them; he is striking the rock, and the water gushed." This verse refers to the time when the Israelites wandered through the desert and God, through Moses, brought water from the rock to satisfy the thirst of the people.
John 4:13-14: "Jesus answered, 'Those who drink from this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water I will never have thirsty. On the contrary, the water that I will become a source of Water gushing for eternal life '". This verse refers to the living water that Jesus offers, which symbolizes eternal life and the full satisfaction of spiritual needs.
1 Corinthians 10:4: "And everyone drank from the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and this rock was Christ." This verse refers to the rock that was wounded by Moses so that the water would spark and satiate the thirst of the people of Israel in the desert. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, makes a connection between the rock that satiated the physical thirst of the people in the desert and Christ, who quenches the spiritual thirst of all those who believe in him.
Revelation 21:6: "And said to me, 'It is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To whom I thirst I will give free drinking from the source of the water of life.'" This verse refers to the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city that God will create at the end of time. In this city, all who are thirsty will be able to drink free of charge from the source of the water of life, which symbolizes eternal life.
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