Water from the Rock
1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was vno water for the people to drink. 2 wTherefore the people xquarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to ydrink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ztest the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people agrumbled against Moses and said, b“Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready cto stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff dwith which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 eBehold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and fwater shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah1 and Meribah,2 because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Israel Defeats Amalek
8 gThen Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill hwith the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that iI will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses jbuilt an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne3 of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
By Faith
1 Now faith is the assurance of things ohoped for, the conviction of things pnot seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that qthe universe was created rby the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
4 By faith sAbel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith tEnoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith uNoah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear vconstructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the wrighteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith xAbraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith yhe went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the zcity that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith aSarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful bwho had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him cas good as dead, were born descendants das many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, enot having received the things promised, but having fseen them and greeted them from afar, and ghaving acknowledged that they were strangers and hexiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not iashamed to be called jtheir God, for he has prepared for them a city.
17 kBy faith Abraham, lwhen he was tested, moffered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, n“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 oHe considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith pIsaac invoked future blessings on Jacob qand Esau. 21 By faith rJacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, sbowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith tJoseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning uhis bones.
23 By faith vMoses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was wbeautiful, and they were not afraid of xthe king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the yson of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the zreproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the areward. 27 By faith bhe left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is cinvisible. 28 By faith dhe kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the eDestroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith fthe people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
