¹ And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;

² That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

³ All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

⁴ Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵ And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emins in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

⁶ And the Horites in their mount Seir, to El-paran, which is by the wilderness.

⁷ And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.

⁸ And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

⁹ With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

¹⁰ And the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there: and they that remained fled to the mountain.

¹¹ And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.

¹² And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³ And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

¹⁴ And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them to Dan.

¹⁵ And he divided himself against them, he and his servants by night, and smote them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

¹⁶ And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

¹⁷ And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.

¹⁸ And Melchisedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

¹⁹ And he blessed him, and said, blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

²⁰ And blessed be the most high God, who hath delivered thy enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

²² And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted my hand to the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

²³ That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:

²⁴ Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

¹ Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

² And there was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves against Moses and against Aaron.

³ And the people chid with Moses, and spoke, saying, O that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!

⁴ And why have ye brought the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?

⁵ And why have ye conducted us from Egypt, to bring us 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.

⁶ And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

⁷ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁸ Take the rod, and convene thou the assembly, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye to the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth its water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give drink to the congregation and their beasts.

⁹ And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.

¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

¹¹ And Moses lifted his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

¹² And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

¹³ This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

¹⁴ And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:

¹⁵ How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians afflicted us, and our fathers:

¹⁶ And when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth from Egypt: and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:

¹⁷ Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high-way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

¹⁸ And Edom said to him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.

¹⁹ And the children of Israel said to him, We will go by the highway: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet.

²⁰ And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand.

²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

²² And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came to mount Hor.

²³ And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,

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 ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.

²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to mount Hor:

²⁶ And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.

²⁷ And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they ascended mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

²⁸ And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there 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, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.