201 Then the sons of Israel , the whole congregation , came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month ; and the people stayed at Kadesh . Now Miriam died there and was buried there . 2 There was no water for the congregation , and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron . 3 The people thus contended with Moses and spoke , saying , " If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord ! 4 " Why then have you brought the Lord'S assembly into this wilderness , for us and our beasts to die here ? 5 "Why have you made us come up from Egypt , to bring us in to this wretched place ? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates , nor is there water to drink ." 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces . Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 8 "Take the rod ; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes , that it may yield its water . You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink ." 9 So Moses took the rod from before e the Lord , just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before e the rock . And he said to them, " Listen now , you rebels ; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock ?" 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod ; and water came forth abundantly , and the congregation and their beasts drank . 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron , " Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel , therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." 13 Those were the waters of Meribah , because the sons of Israel contended with the Lord , and He proved Himself holy among them.
14 From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom : "Thus your brother Israel has said , 'You know all the hardship that has befallen us; 15 that our fathers went down to Egypt , and we stayed in Egypt a long time , and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly . 16 'But when we cried out to the Lord , He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt ; now behold , we are at Kadesh , a town on the edge of your territory . 17 'Please let us pass through your land . We will not pass through field or through vineyard ; we will not even drink water from a well . We will go along the king's highway , not turning to the right or left , until e we pass through your territory .' " 18 Edom , however, said to him, "You shall not pass through us, or I will come out with the sword against you." 19 Again, the sons of Israel said to him, "We will go up by the highway , and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water , then I will pay its price . Let me only pass through on my feet , nothing e else." 20 But he said , " You shall not pass through ." And Edom came out against him with a heavy force and with a strong hand . 21 Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory ; so Israel turned away from him.
22 Now when they set out from Kadesh , the sons of Israel , the whole congregation , came to Mount Hor . 23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom , saying , 24 "Aaron will be gathered to his people ; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel , because e you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah . 25 "Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor ; 26 and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar . So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there ." 27 So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded , and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation . 28 After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar , Aaron died there on the mountain top . Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain . 29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died , all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days .
