Numbers 20 When the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Sin, in the first month, the people took up their abode at Kades; and there Mariam died, and there she was buried.

Thomson⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ When the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Sin, in the first month, the people took up their abode at Kades; and there Mariam died, and there she was buried. ² And there being no water for the congregation, they assembled tumultuously against Moses and Aaron; ³ and the people reviled Moses, and said,! that we had died in the destruction of our brethren before the Lord! ⁴ Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, to kill us and our cattle? ⁵ Why is this? Have you brought us out of Egypt, that we might come to this vile place; a place where no seed can be sown, where there are no fig trees, nor vines, nor pomegranates, nor even water to drink? ⁶ Whereupon Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the congregation, to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ Take thy staff, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother; and speak to that rock before them, and it will give its water. And you shall bring water for them from that rock, and give drink to the congregation, and their cattle. ⁹ So Moses took the staff which was before the Lord, as the Lord commanded. ¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation, at some distance over against the rock, and he said to them, Hear me, ye rebels! Can we bring water for you out of this rock? ¹¹ Then Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock twice with the staff, and there gushed out much water, so that the congregation, and their cattle, drank. ¹² Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you have not believed, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land which I have given them. ¹³ This is the water of Strife, because the children of Israel uttered reproaches before the Lord, and he was hallowed among them. ¹⁴ Then Moses sent messengers from Kades, to the king of Edom, saying, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the trouble that hath befallen us. ¹⁵ Our fathers went down in 16 to Egypt, and we have sojourned in Egypt many years. And when the Egyptians ill treated us and our fathers, ¹⁶ we cried to the Lord, and the Lord hearkened to our voice; and having sent a messenger he hath brought us out of Egypt, and we are now at Kades, a city on the extremity of thy borders. ¹⁷ Let us pass through thy land. We will not march through the fields, nor vineyards, nor drink water out of thy cisterns. We will march along the king's high way, and will not turn aside to the right, nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. ¹⁸ But Edom said to him, Thou shalt not pass through me. If thou attempt it, I will come out to meet thee in battle. ¹⁹ Whereupon the children of Israel said, Let us pass through along the mountains, and if I, or my cattle drink of thy water, I will make thee compensation. Grant but this. It is but a small matter. Let us march through along the mountain. ²⁰ But he said, Thou shalt not pass through me. And Edom came out to meet him with a great multitude, and a strong hand. ²¹ As Edom would not grant Israel a passage through his borders, therefore they turned aside from him; ²² and having removed from Kades, the Israelites; the whole congregation came to mount Hor. ²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at mount Hor, on the borders of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ Let Aaron be gathered to his people. For you shall not enter the land which I have given the children of Israel for a possession, because you provoked me at the water of strife. ²⁵ Take Aaron thy brother, and Eleazar his son, and make them go up to mount Hor, ²⁶ in the view of the whole congregation, and strip Aaron of his robes, and put them on Eleazar his son: and let Aaron be composed, and die there. ²⁷ So Moses did as the Lord commanded him; And having taken them up to mount Hor, in the view of the whole congregation, ²⁸ he stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died on the top of the mount. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. ²⁹ And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, the whole house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.