Exodus 14–15

14TH CHAPTER

Pharaoh Pursues Israel

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the Israelites to go back and set up their camp facing Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. Set up your camp facing north—by the sea. ³Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are ⸤just⸥ wandering around. The desert is blocking their escape.’ ⁴I will make Pharaoh so stubborn that he will pursue them. Then, because of what I do to Pharaoh and his entire army, I will receive honor, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So that is what the Israelites did. 

⁵When Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) was told that the people had fled, he and his officials changed their minds about them. They said, “What have we done? We’ve lost our slaves because we’ve let Israel go.” ⁶So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him. ⁷He took 600 of his best chariots as well as all the other chariots in Egypt, placing an officer in each of them. ⁸The Lord made Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) so stubborn that he pursued the Israelites, who were boldly leaving Egypt. ⁹The Egyptians pursued the Israelites. Pharaoh’s army, including all his horse-drawn chariots and cavalry, caught up with them as they were setting up their camp by the sea at Pi Hahiroth facing north. 

¹⁰As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw that the Egyptians were coming after them. Terrified, the Israelites cried out to the Lord. ¹¹They said to Moses, “Did you bring us out into the desert to die because there were no graves in Egypt? Look what you’ve done by bringing us out of Egypt! ¹²Didn’t we tell you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone! Let us go on serving the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 

The Lord Divides the Red Sea

¹³Moses answered the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see what the Lord will do to save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again. ¹⁴The Lord is fighting for you! So be still!” 

¹⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving. ¹⁶Raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide the water. Then the Israelites will go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷I am making the Egyptians so stubborn that they will follow the Israelites. I will receive honor because of what I will do to Pharaoh, his entire army, his chariots, and cavalry. ¹⁸The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I am honored for what I did to Pharaoh, his chariots, and his cavalry.” 

¹⁹The Messenger of God, who had been in front of the Israelites, moved behind them. So the column of smoke moved from in front of the Israelites and stood behind them ²⁰between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp. The ⸤column of⸥ smoke was there when darkness came, and it lit up the night. Neither side came near the other all night long. 

²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. All that night the Lord pushed back the sea with a strong east wind and turned the sea into dry ground. The water divided, ²²and the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground. The water stood like a wall on their right and on their left. 

²³The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry followed them into the sea. ²⁴Just before dawn, the Lord looked down from the column of fire and smoke and threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. ²⁵He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they could hardly move. Then the Egyptians shouted, “Let’s get out of here! The Lord is fighting for Israel! He’s against us!” 

²⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water will flow back over the Egyptians, their chariots, and their cavalry.” 

²⁷Moses stretched his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the water returned to its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. ²⁸The water flowed back and covered Pharaoh’s entire army, as well as the chariots and the cavalry that had followed Israel into the sea. Not one of them survived. 

²⁹Meanwhile, the Israelites had gone through the sea on dry ground while the water stood like a wall on their right and on their left. ³⁰That day the Lord saved Israel from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. ³¹When the Israelites saw the great power the Lord had used against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord and believed in him and in his servant Moses. 

15TH CHAPTER

The Song of Moses

¹Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: 

“I will sing to the Lord. 

He has won a glorious victory. 

He has thrown horses and their riders into the sea. 

²The Lord is my strength and my song. 

He is my Savior. 

This is my God, and I will praise him, 

my father’s God, and I will honor him. 

³The Lord is a warrior! 

The Lord is his name. 

⁴He has thrown Pharaoh’s chariots and army into the sea. 

Pharaoh’s best officers were drowned in the Red Sea. 

⁵The deep water covered them. 

They sank to the bottom like a rock. 

⁶Your right hand, O Lord, wins glory because it is strong. 

Your right hand, O Lord, smashes your enemies. 

⁷With your unlimited majesty, you destroyed those who attacked you. 

You sent out your burning anger. 

It burned them up like straw. 

⁸With a blast from your nostrils, the water piled up. 

The waves stood up like a dam. 

The deep water thickened in the middle of the sea. 

⁹“The enemy said, ‘I’ll pursue them! 

I’ll catch up with them! 

I’ll divide the loot! 

I’ll take all I want! 

I’ll use my sword! 

I’ll take all they have!’ 

¹⁰Your breath blew the sea over them. 

They sank like lead in the raging water. 

¹¹“Who is like you among the gods, O Lord? 

Who is like you? 

You are glorious because of your holiness 

and awe-inspiring because of your splendor. 

You perform miracles. 

¹²You stretched out your right hand. 

The earth swallowed them. 

¹³“Lovingly, you will lead the people you have saved. 

Powerfully, you will guide them to your holy dwelling. 

¹⁴People will hear of it and tremble. 

The people of Philistia will be in anguish. 

¹⁵The tribal leaders of Edom will be terrified. 

The powerful men of Moab will tremble. 

The people of Canaan will be deathly afraid. 

¹⁶Terror and dread will fall on them. 

Because of the power of your arm, they will be petrified 

until your people pass by, O Lord, 

until the people you purchased pass by. 

¹⁷You will bring them and plant them on your own mountain, 

the place where you live, O Lord, 

the holy place that you built with your own hands, O Lord. 

¹⁸The Lord will rule as king forever and ever.” 

¹⁹When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry went into the sea, the Lord made the water of the sea flow back over them. However, the Israelites had gone through the sea on dry ground. 

The Song of Miriam

²⁰Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand. All the women, dancing with tambourines, followed her. ²¹Miriam sang to them: 

“Sing to the Lord. 

He has won a glorious victory. 

He has thrown horses and their riders into the sea.” 

God Provides Water for the Israelites

²²Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea into the desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. ²³When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink the water because it tasted bitter. That’s why the place was called Marah ^[Bitter Place^[. ²⁴The people complained about Moses by asking, “What are we supposed to drink?” 

²⁵Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed^ahim a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. 

There the Lord set down laws and rules for them to live by, and there he tested them. ²⁶He said, “If you will listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what he considers right, if you pay attention to his commands and obey all his laws, I will never make you suffer any of the diseases I made the Egyptians suffer, because I am the Lord, who heals you.” 

²⁷Next, they went to Elim, where there were 12 springs and 70 palm trees. They camped there by the water.