Exodus 14:15–30

¹⁵The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out for help? Tell the people to move forward. ¹⁶Lift up your stick and hold it out over the sea. The water will divide, and the Israelites will be able to walk through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷I will make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will go in after them, and I will gain honour by my victory over the king, his army, his chariots, and his drivers. ¹⁸When I defeat them, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁹The angel of God, who had been in front of the army of Israel, moved and went to the rear. The pillar of cloud also moved until it was ²⁰between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The cloud made it dark for the Egyptians, but gave light to the people of Israel,ⁿ and so the armies could not come near each other all night.

²¹Moses held out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind. It blew all night and turned the sea into dry land. The water was divided, ^22*and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on both sides. ²³The Egyptians pursued them and went after them into the sea with all their horses, chariots, and drivers. ²⁴Just before dawn the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw them into a panic. ²⁵He made the wheels of their chariots get stuck, so that they moved with great difficulty. The Egyptians said, “The Lord is fighting for the Israelites against us. Let’s get out of here!”

²⁶The Lord said to Moses, “Hold out your hand over the sea, and the water will come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and drivers.” ²⁷So Moses held out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the water returned to its normal level. The Egyptians tried to escape from the water, but the Lord threw them into the sea. ²⁸The water returned and covered the chariots, the drivers, and all the Egyptian army that had followed the Israelites into the sea; not one of them was left. ²⁹But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on both sides.

³⁰On that day the Lord saved the people of Israel from the Egyptians, and the Israelites saw them lying dead on the seashore.