Bitter Water (EXO 15:22-27)

[15:22] Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea into the desert of Shur. For three days they walked through the desert, but found no water.

[15:23] Then they came to a place called Marah, but the water there was so bitter that they could not drink it. That is why it was named Marah.

[15:24] The people complained to Moses and asked, “What are we going to drink?”

[15:25] Moses prayed earnestly to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood, which he threw into the water; and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord gave them laws to live by, and there he also tested them.

[15:26] He said, “If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the Lord, the one who heals you.”

[15:27] Next they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; there they camped by the water.