12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”c

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid.d Stand firm and you will seee the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never seef again. 14 The Lord will fightg for you; you need only to be still.”h

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?i Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staffj and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the waterk so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the heartsl of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them.m And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lordn when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God,o who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloudp also moved from in front and stood behindq them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darknessr to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hands over the sea,t and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east windu and turned it into dry land.v The waters were divided,w 22 and the Israelites went through the seax on dry ground,y with a wallz of water on their right and on their left.