12They set out from the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
13They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush.
14They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
Numbers 33:12-14
1Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin,a moving from place to place as YHVH commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.”
“Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test YHVH?”
3But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
4Then Moses cried out to YHVH, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”
5And YHVH said to Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.6Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.b And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.”
So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He named the place Massahc and Meribahd because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested YHVH, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
The Defeat of the Amalekites
8After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”
10Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. 12When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.
13So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.
14Then YHVH said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
15And Moses built an altar and named it YHVH Is My Banner.e 16“Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of YHVH. YHVH will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
Exodus 17
1Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethro,a the priest of Midian, heard about all that Elohim had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how YHVH had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her,3along with her two sons. One son was named Gershom,b for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.” 4The other son was named Eliezer,c for Moses had said, “The Elohim of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
5Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the desert, where he was encamped at the mountain of Elohim. 6He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent. 8Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that YHVH had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how YHVH had delivered them.
9And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things YHVH had done for Israel, whom He had rescued from the hand of the Egyptians. 10Jethro declared, “Blessed be YHVH, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians. 11Now I know that YHVH is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”
12Then Moses’ father-in-law Jethro brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to Elohim, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of Elohim.
Jethro Advises Moses (Deuteronomy 1:9–18)
13The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening. 14When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone as judge, with all the people standing around you from morning till evening?”
15“Because the people come to me to inquire of Elohim,” Moses replied. 16“Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”
17But Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.
19Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and may Elohim be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their causes to Him. 20Teach them the statutes and laws, and show them the way to live and the work they must do.
21Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—Elohim-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
22Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened as they share it with you.
23If you follow this advice and Elohim so directs you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”
24Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25So Moses chose capable men from all Israel and made them heads over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.
27Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own land.