nkjv Exodus:17-20 SEEK
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Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin ,
according to the commandment of the LORD ,
and camped in Rephidim ;
but there was no water for the people to drink .
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Therefore the people contended with Moses ,
and said , "
Give us water ,
that we may drink ."
So Moses said to them , "
Why do you contend with me ?
Why do you tempt the LORD ?"
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And the people thirsted there for water ,
and the people complained against Moses ,
and said , "
Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt ,
to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst ?"
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So Moses cried out to the LORD ,
saying , "
What shall I do with this people ?
They are almost ready to stone me !"
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And the LORD said to Moses , "
Go on before the people ,
and take with you some of the elders of Israel .
Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river ,
and go .
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Behold ,
I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb ;
and you shall strike the rock ,
and water will come out of it ,
that the people may drink ."
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel .
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So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah ,
because of the contention of the children of Israel ,
and because they tempted the LORD ,
saying , "
Is the LORD among us or not ?"
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Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim .
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And Moses said to Joshua , "
Choose us some men and go out ,
fight with Amalek .
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand ."
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So Joshua did as Moses said to him ,
and fought with Amalek .
And Moses ,
Aaron ,
and Hur went up to the top of the hill .
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And so it was ,
when Moses held up his hand ,
that Israel prevailed ;
and when he let down his hand ,
Amalek prevailed .
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But Moses '
hands became heavy ;
so they took a stone and put it under him ,
and he sat on it .
And Aaron and Hur supported his hands ,
one on one side ,
and the other on the other side ;
and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun .
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So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword .
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Then the LORD said to Moses , "
Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua ,
that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven ."
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And Moses built an altar and called its name ,
The-LORD-Is-My-Banner ;
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for he said , "
Because the LORD has sworn :
the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation ."
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And Jethro ,
the priest of Midian ,
Moses '
father-in-law ,
heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people--that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt .
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Then Jethro ,
Moses '
father-in-law ,
took Zipporah ,
Moses '
wife ,
after he had sent her back ,
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with her two sons ,
of whom the name of one was Gershom (
for he said , "
I have been a stranger in a foreign land ")
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and the name of the other was Eliezer (
for he said , "
The God of my father was my help ,
and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh ");
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and Jethro ,
Moses '
father-in-law ,
came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness ,
where he was encamped at the mountain of God .
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Now he had said to Moses , "
I ,
your father-in-law Jethro ,
am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her ."
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So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law ,
bowed down ,
and kissed him .
And they asked each other about their well-being ,
and they went into the tent .
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And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel '
s sake ,
all the hardship that had come upon them on the way ,
and how the LORD had delivered them .
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Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the LORD had done for Israel ,
whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians .
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And Jethro said , "
Blessed be the LORD ,
who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh ,
and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians .
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Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods ;
for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly ,
He was above them ."
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Then Jethro ,
Moses '
father-in-law ,
took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God .
And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses '
father-in-law before God .
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And so it was ,
on the next day ,
that Moses sat to judge the people ;
and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening .
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So when Moses '
father-in-law saw all that he did for the people ,
he said , "
What is this thing that you are doing for the people ?
Why do you alone sit ,
and all the people stand before you from morning until evening ?"
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And Moses said to his father-in-law , "
Because the people come to me to inquire of God .
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When they have a difficulty ,
they come to me ,
and I judge between one and another ;
and I make known the statutes of God and His laws ."
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So Moses '
father-in-law said to him , "
The thing that you do is not good .
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Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out .
For this thing is too much for you ;
you are not able to perform it by yourself .
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Listen now to my voice ;
I will give you counsel ,
and God will be with you :
Stand before God for the people ,
so that you may bring the difficulties to God .
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And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws ,
and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do .
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Moreover you shall select from all the people able men ,
such as fear God ,
men of truth ,
hating covetousness ;
and place such over them to be rulers of thousands ,
rulers of hundreds ,
rulers of fifties ,
and rulers of tens .
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And let them judge the people at all times .
Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you ,
but every small matter they themselves shall judge .
So it will be easier for you ,
for they will bear the burden with you .
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If you do this thing ,
and God so commands you ,
then you will be able to endure ,
and all this people will also go to their place in peace ."
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So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said .
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And Moses chose able men out of all Israel ,
and made them heads over the people :
rulers of thousands ,
rulers of hundreds ,
rulers of fifties ,
and rulers of tens .
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So they judged the people at all times ;
the hard cases they brought to Moses ,
but they judged every small case themselves .
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Then Moses let his father-in-law depart ,
and he went his way to his own land .
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In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt ,
on the same day ,
they came to the Wilderness of Sinai .
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For they had departed from Rephidim ,
had come to the Wilderness of Sinai ,
and camped in the wilderness .
So Israel camped there before the mountain .
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And Moses went up to God ,
and the LORD called to him from the mountain ,
saying , "
Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob ,
and tell the children of Israel :
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You have seen what I did to the Egyptians ,
and how I bore you on eagles '
wings and brought you to Myself .
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Now therefore ,
if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant ,
then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people ;
for all the earth is Mine .
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And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation .'
These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel ."
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So Moses came and called for the elders of the people ,
and laid before them all these words which the LORD commanded him .
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Then all the people answered together and said , "
All that the LORD has spoken we will do ."
So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD .
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And the LORD said to Moses , "
Behold ,
I come to you in the thick cloud ,
that the people may hear when I speak with you ,
and believe you forever ."
So Moses told the words of the people to the LORD .
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Then the LORD said to Moses , "
Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow ,
and let them wash their clothes .
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And let them be ready for the third day .
For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people .
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You shall set bounds for the people all around ,
saying , "
Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base .
Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death .
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Not a hand shall touch him ,
but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow ;
whether man or beast ,
he shall not live .'
When the trumpet sounds long ,
they shall come near the mountain ."
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So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people ,
and they washed their clothes .
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And he said to the people , "
Be ready for the third day ;
do not come near your wives ."
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Then it came to pass on the third day ,
in the morning ,
that there were thunderings and lightnings ,
and a thick cloud on the mountain ;
and the sound of the trumpet was very loud ,
so that all the people who were in the camp trembled .
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And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God ,
and they stood at the foot of the mountain .
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Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke ,
because the LORD descended upon it in fire .
Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace ,
and the whole mountain quaked greatly .
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And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder ,
Moses spoke ,
and God answered him by voice .
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Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai ,
on the top of the mountain .
And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain ,
and Moses went up .
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And the LORD said to Moses , "
Go down and warn the people ,
lest they break through to gaze at the LORD ,
and many of them perish .
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Also let the priests who come near the LORD consecrate themselves ,
lest the LORD break out against them ."
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But Moses said to the LORD , "
The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai ;
for You warned us ,
saying , "
Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it ."'
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Then the LORD said to him , "
Away !
Get down and then come up ,
you and Aaron with you .
But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD ,
lest He break out against them ."
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So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them .
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And God spoke all these words ,
saying :
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I am the LORD your God ,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt ,
out of the house of bondage .
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You shall have no other gods before Me .
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You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above ,
or that is in the earth beneath ,
or that is in the water under the earth ;
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you shall not bow down to them nor serve them .
For I ,
the LORD your God ,
am a jealous God ,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me ,
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but showing mercy to thousands ,
to those who love Me and keep My commandments .
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You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain ,
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain .
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Remember the Sabbath day ,
to keep it holy .
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Six days you shall labor and do all your work ,
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but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God .
In it you shall do no work :
you ,
nor your son ,
nor your daughter ,
nor your male servant ,
nor your female servant ,
nor your cattle ,
nor your stranger who is within your gates .
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For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth ,
the sea ,
and all that is in them ,
and rested the seventh day .
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it .
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Honor your father and your mother ,
that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you .
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You shall not murder .
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You shall not commit adultery .
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You shall not steal .
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You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor .
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You shall not covet your neighbor '
s house ;
you shall not covet your neighbor '
s wife ,
nor his male servant ,
nor his female servant ,
nor his ox ,
nor his donkey ,
nor anything that is your neighbor '
s ."
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Now all the people witnessed the thunderings ,
the lightning flashes ,
the sound of the trumpet ,
and the mountain smoking ;
and when the people saw it ,
they trembled and stood afar off .
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Then they said to Moses , "
You speak with us ,
and we will hear ;
but let not God speak with us ,
lest we die ."
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And Moses said to the people , "
Do not fear ;
for God has come to test you ,
and that His fear may be before you ,
so that you may not sin ."
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So the people stood afar off ,
but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was .
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Then the LORD said to Moses , "
Thus you shall say to the children of Israel : "
You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven .
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You shall not make anything to be with Me--gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves .
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An altar of earth you shall make for Me ,
and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings ,
your sheep and your oxen .
In every place where I record My name I will come to you ,
and I will bless you .
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And if you make Me an altar of stone ,
you shall not build it of hewn stone ;
for if you use your tool on it ,
you have profaned it .
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Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar ,
that your nakedness may not be exposed on it .'
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Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them :