Numbers 20: Water from the Rock

Miriam dies at Kadesh. The people have no water and quarrel with Moses. God tells Moses to speak to the rock, but Moses, angry, strikes it twice. Water gushes out, but God says Moses and Aaron will not bring Israel into the land because they did not trust Him to show His holiness. Edom refuses passage, and Aaron dies on Mount Hor after Eleazar is clothed as priest.

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Read Numbers 20

World English Bible · 29 verses

¹ The children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
² There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
³ The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh!This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁴ Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁵ Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. Yahweh’s glory appeared to them.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁸ “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁹ Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁰ Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹¹ Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹² Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹³ These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “Your brother Israel says: You know all the travail that has happened to us;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁵ how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁶ When we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the edge of your border.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁷ “Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink from the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway. We will not turn away to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁸ Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you.”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁹ The children of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway; and if we drink your water, I and my livestock, then I will give its price. Only let me, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁰ He said, “You shall not pass through.” Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²² They traveled from Kadesh, and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁴ “Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron shall be gathered, and shall die there.”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁷ Moses did as Yahweh commanded. They went up onto Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁸ Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org

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Numbers 20 · Preschool

Water from the Rock

Name Date

Color the water pouring out of the rock! God gave His people water.

Can you find these in the picture? Circle each one!

Bible Verse

“Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him.”

Numbers 20:9 (WEB)

Prayer

Thank You, God, for making me!

Take It Home

Read the verse aloud. Say: God took care of His thirsty people. God takes care of us too.

Open Grade 4 on its own page

Numbers 20 · Grade 4

When Leaders Fail

Name Date

Read and Think

Numbers 20 jumps near the end of the forty years. At Kadesh, Miriam died. Then the new generation complained like their parents. They wished they had died and asked why Moses brought them to a place with no water.

God told Moses to take the rod and speak to the rock in front of everyone. Instead, Moses called the people rebels and struck the rock twice. God was gracious, and water poured out. But God said Moses and Aaron had not believed Him or shown His holiness to the people.

Even great leaders must obey God exactly. Moses and Aaron would not enter the land. Edom, Israel's relative nation, refused to let them pass. Aaron died on Mount Hor after his priestly clothes were placed on Eleazar. God's work continued with the next generation.

Show What You Know

Who died at Kadesh?
How was Moses' action different from God's command?
What did God say Moses and Aaron failed to do?
What happened to Aaron's priestly clothes?

Word Bank Fill-In

Use the word bank to fill in each blank.

KadeshGodMosesrockwater

At , Miriam died.
They wished they had died and asked why Moses brought them to a place with no .
God told Moses to take the rod and speak to the in front of everyone.
Instead, called the people rebels and struck the rock twice.
was gracious, and water poured out.

Think About It

Why do you think obeying God exactly matters, even for leaders?
How does God show grace even when people fail?

Memory Verse

Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Numbers 20:12 (WEB)

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Prayer

Dear God, thank You for giving what I need. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

Why must leaders obey God carefully?
How is Jesus like water for our souls?

Open Grade 5 on its own page

Numbers 20 · Grade 5

The Waters of Meribah

Name Date

Read and Think

Numbers 20 opens in the first month of a year near the end of the wandering. Miriam died at Kadesh and was buried there. There was no water, and the people assembled against Moses and Aaron. Their words echoed their parents: We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh! It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, and Yahweh's glory appeared. God said, Take the rod... and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. Moses took the rod, gathered the assembly, and said, Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you? He struck the rock twice, and water came out abundantly. Yahweh said, Because you didn't believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land. The place was named Meribah, meaning quarreling.

Israel asked Edom, descended from Jacob's brother Esau, for passage on the King's Highway, but Edom refused with an army. At Mount Hor, Moses removed Aaron's garments and put them on Eleazar, and Aaron died on the top of the mount. Israel mourned thirty days. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that the rock that followed them was Christ. Jesus later offered living water to all who come to Him (John 7:37-38).

Show What You Know

What did the people complain about?
What did God tell Moses to do?
What reason did God give for Moses and Aaron not entering?
What does Meribah mean?
What does 1 Corinthians 10:4 say about the rock?

Crossword

Across

Moses struck the rock ____.
Mount ____ where Aaron died.
Where Miriam died.

Down

Moses was told to speak to it.
Moses did not ____ God here.
Refused to let Israel pass.

Think About It

What can we learn from Moses' failure about anger?
How does Jesus give living water today?

Memory Verse

Numbers 20:12 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for giving what I need. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

How can you lean on God's grace when you slip?
How can you obey God carefully when you are upset?
What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?

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Numbers 20: Water from the Rock

Read Numbers 20

Worksheets

Water from the Rock

Prayer

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God Gives Water

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Mini Maze

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Listen to God

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Water from the Rock

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Moses and the Rock

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Word Search

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Speak to the Rock

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Water from the Rock

Word Search

Prayer

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When Leaders Fail

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Show What You Know

Word Bank Fill-In

Think About It

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Prayer

Take It Home

The Waters of Meribah

Read and Think

Show What You Know

Crossword

Think About It

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Prayer

Take It Home

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