And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the people to the door of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod, and assemble the multitude, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye to the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the multitude and their cattle drink." And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the people together before the rock, and he said unto them, "Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?" And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the {249} multitude drank, and their cattle. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this people into the land which I have given them." These are the waters of Meribah (that is, strife); because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them. And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, "Thus saith thy brother Israel, 'Thou knowest all the trouble that hath befallen us: how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time: and the Egyptians oppressed us, and our fathers: and when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king's highway, we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border.'" And Edom said unto him, "Thou shalt not pass through my land, lest I come out with the sword against thee." And the children of Israel said unto him, "We will go up by the highway: and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet." And he said, "Thou shalt not pass through." And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give {250} Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.