And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them;
- KJV And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
- NKJV So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,
- NASB Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.
- NLT So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink. It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses cried to Yahweh, who showed him a tree to cast into the waters to make them sweet, and there God tested Israel with a statute.
Overview
God answers prayer by providing means, the tree, to heal the bitter waters, showing His care amid trial. The episode becomes a test and a place of instruction, a 'statute and ordinance' for the people. Many Christian readers have seen in the tree that sweetens bitter waters a foreshadowing of the cross, though the text itself emphasizes God's provision and the call to trust and obey.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Deut 8:2Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
- Ps 66:10For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver.
- Judg 3:1These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,
- Judg 3:4These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out whether they would keep the commandments of the LORD, which He had given their fathers through Moses.
- Judg 2:22In this way I will test whether Israel will keep the way of the LORD by walking in it as their fathers did.”
- Exod 16:4Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.
- Deut 8:16He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
- 2 Kgs 2:21and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”
- 1 Pet 1:6–7In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials
- Ps 91:15When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Ps 50:15Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- 1 Cor 1:18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- Prov 17:3A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
- Josh 24:21–25“No!” replied the people. “We will serve the LORD!”
- Jer 9:7Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?
- Exod 14:10As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD.
- 2 Kgs 4:41Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
- Exod 17:4Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”
- Deut 13:3you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Ps 81:7You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
- Ps 99:6Moses and Aaron were among His priests; Samuel was among those who called on His name. They called to the LORD and He answered.
- Jer 15:1Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 15:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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