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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Exodus 17:4

Moses cried out in prayer to God , "What can I do with these people? Any minute now they'll kill me!"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Backsliders;   Blessing;   Evil for Good;   Ingratitude;   Israel;   Meribah;   Persecution;   Prayer;   Thompson Chain Reference - Afflictions;   Crying to God;   Earnestness-Indifference;   Prayer;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Ingratitude;   Prayer, Answers to;   Rocks;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Aaron;   Meribah;   Rephidim;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Exodus, Theology of;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Meribah;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Levi;   Punishments;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Aaron's Rod;   Exodus, Book of;   Kadesh-Meribah;   Provocation;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Exodus;   Massah and Meribah;   Moses;   Numbers, Book of;   Zin;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Stoning;   Stoning (2);   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Levi;   Mordecai;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Journeyings of israel from egypt to canaan;   Meribali;   Rephidim;   Stoning;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Punishments;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Sinai;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Criticism (the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis);   Intercession;   Moses;   Pentateuch;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Eleazar (Eliezer) B. Hisma;   Exodus, Book of;   Rephidim;   Water;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Moshe cried to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."
King James Version
And Moses cried unto the Lord , saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
Lexham English Bible
And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, "What will I do with this people? A little longer and they will stone me."
New Century Version
So Moses cried to the Lord , "What can I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me to death."
New English Translation
Then Moses cried out to the Lord , "What will I do with this people?—a little more and they will stone me!"
Amplified Bible
So Moses cried out to the LORD for help, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."
New American Standard Bible
So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What am I to do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!"
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Moses cried to the Lorde, saying, What shal I do to this people? for they be almost ready to stone me.
Legacy Standard Bible
So Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, "What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me."
Contemporary English Version
Then Moses prayed to the Lord , "What am I going to do with these people? They are about to stone me to death!"
Complete Jewish Bible
Moshe cried out to Adonai , "What am I to do with these people? They're ready to stone me!"
Darby Translation
And Moses cried to Jehovah, saying, What shall I do with this people? Yet a little, and they will stone me!
Easy-to-Read Version
So Moses cried to the Lord , "What can I do with these people? They are ready to kill me."
English Standard Version
So Moses cried to the Lord , "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."
George Lamsa Translation
And Moses prayed to the LORD, saying. What shall I do with this people? They were almost ready to stone me.
Good News Translation
Moses prayed earnestly to the Lord and said, "What can I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."
Christian Standard Bible®
Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!”
Literal Translation
And Moses cried to Jehovah, saying, What shall I do to this people? Yet a little and they will stone me.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Moses cried vnto the LORDE, and sayde: What shal I do wt this people? They are allmost ready to stone me.
American Standard Version
And Moses cried unto Jehovah, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me.
Bible in Basic English
And Moses, crying out to the Lord, said, What am I to do to this people? they are almost ready to put me to death by stoning.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Moyses cryed vnto the Lorde, saying: What shall I do vnto this people, they be almost redy to stone me?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying: 'What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me.'
King James Version (1611)
And Moses cried vnto the Lord, saying, What shall I doe vnto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, What shall I do to this people? yet a little while and they will stone me.
English Revised Version
And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
Berean Standard Bible
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Moises criede to the Lord, and seide, What schal Y do to this puple? yit a litil, also it schal stone me.
Young's Literal Translation
And Moses crieth to Jehovah, saying, `What do I to this people? yet a little, and they have stoned me.'
Update Bible Version
And Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, What shall I do to this people? They are almost ready to stone me.
Webster's Bible Translation
And Moses cried to the LORD, saying, What shall I do to this people? they are almost ready to stone me.
World English Bible
Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, "What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."
New King James Version
So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!"
New Living Translation
Then Moses cried out to the Lord , "What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!"
New Life Bible
So Moses called to the Lord, saying, "What should I do with these people? They are almost ready to throw stones at me."
New Revised Standard
So Moses cried out to the Lord , "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Moses made outcry unto Yahweh saying, What am I to do, with this people? Yet a little, and they will stone me.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more and they will stone me.
Revised Standard Version
So Moses cried to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me."

Contextual Overview

1Directed by God , the whole company of Israel moved on by stages from the Wilderness of Sin. They set camp at Rephidim. And there wasn't a drop of water for the people to drink. The people took Moses to task: "Give us water to drink." But Moses said, "Why pester me? Why are you testing God ?" 3 But the people were thirsty for water there. They complained to Moses, "Why did you take us from Egypt and drag us out here with our children and animals to die of thirst?" 4 Moses cried out in prayer to God , "What can I do with these people? Any minute now they'll kill me!" 5 God said to Moses, "Go on out ahead of the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel. Take the staff you used to strike the Nile. And go. I'm going to be present before you there on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will gush out of it and the people will drink." Moses did what he said, with the elders of Israel right there watching. He named the place Massah (Testing-Place) and Meribah (Quarreling) because of the quarreling of the Israelites and because of their testing of God when they said, "Is God here with us, or not?" Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses ordered Joshua: "Select some men for us and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on top of the hill holding G od's staff." Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses' hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle. God said to Moses, "Write this up as a reminder to Joshua, to keep it before him, because I will most certainly wipe the very memory of Amalek off the face of the Earth." Moses built an altar and named it " God My Banner." He said, Salute God 's rule! God at war with Amalek Always and forever! 7 Directed by God , the whole company of Israel moved on by stages from the Wilderness of Sin. They set camp at Rephidim. And there wasn't a drop of water for the people to drink. The people took Moses to task: "Give us water to drink." But Moses said, "Why pester me? Why are you testing God ?" But the people were thirsty for water there. They complained to Moses, "Why did you take us from Egypt and drag us out here with our children and animals to die of thirst?" Moses cried out in prayer to God , "What can I do with these people? Any minute now they'll kill me!" God said to Moses, "Go on out ahead of the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel. Take the staff you used to strike the Nile. And go. I'm going to be present before you there on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will gush out of it and the people will drink." Moses did what he said, with the elders of Israel right there watching. He named the place Massah (Testing-Place) and Meribah (Quarreling) because of the quarreling of the Israelites and because of their testing of God when they said, "Is God here with us, or not?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

cried: Exodus 14:15, Exodus 15:25, Numbers 11:11

almost: Numbers 14:10, Numbers 16:19, 1 Samuel 30:6, John 8:59, John 10:31, Acts 7:50, Acts 14:19

Reciprocal: Exodus 5:22 - returned Exodus 15:24 - General Numbers 20:6 - they fell 1 Kings 12:18 - all Israel 1 Kings 17:20 - he cried Job 42:10 - when

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
I'll make you a great nation and bless you. I'll make you famous; you'll be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I'll curse. All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you."
Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."
Genesis 17:18
Recovering, Abraham said to God, "Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!"
Genesis 35:11
God continued, I am The Strong God. Have children! Flourish! A nation—a whole company of nations!— will come from you. Kings will come from your loins; the land I gave Abraham and Isaac I now give to you, and pass it on to your descendants.
Genesis 48:19
But his father wouldn't do it. He said, "I know, my son; but I know what I'm doing. He also will develop into a people, and he also will be great. But his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will enrich nations." Then he blessed them both: Israel will use your names to give blessings: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. In that he made it explicit: he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Moses cried unto the Lord..... Or prayed unto him, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; which shows the distress he was thrown into, the vehemence of his prayer, and perhaps the loud and lamentable tone in which he expressed it: this was the method he always took, and the refuge he fled unto in all his times of trouble; in which he did well, and set a good example of piety and devotion to God, of faith and trust in him: saying,

what shall I do unto this people? or, "for this people" h; to relieve them in their present exigency; suggesting his own inability to do any thing for them: yet not despairing of relief, but rather expressing faith in the power and goodness of God to keep them, by his application to him; desiring that he would open a way for their help, and direct him what he must do in this case for them: something, he intimates, must be done speedily for the glory of God, for his own safety, and to prevent the people sinning yet more and more, and so bring destruction upon them; for, adds he,

they be almost ready to stone me or, "yet a little, and they will stone me" i; if the time of help is protracted, if relief is not in a short time given, he had reason to believe from the menaces they had given out, the impatience they had showed, the rage they were in, they would certainly take up stones and stone him, being in a stony and rocky place; and this they would do, not as a formal punishment of him as a false prophet, telling them they should be brought to Canaan, when they were brought into the wilderness and perishing there; which law respecting such an one was not yet in being; but this he supposed as what an enraged multitude was wont to do, and which was more ready at hand for them to do than anything else, see Exodus 8:26.

h לעם הזה "populo haic", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, c. i עוד מעט "adhuc paululum et lapidabit me." V. L. "parum abest", Tigurine version "adhuc modicum", Pagninus, Montanus; "adhuc paulisper", Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Ainsworth.


 
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