Exodus 14–15

CHAPTER 14

Israel Crosses the Red Sea

¹Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel so that they turn back and camp before ^aPi-hahiroth, between ^bMigdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.

³“And Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering in confusion in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

⁴“Thus ^aI will ¹harden Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and ^bhe will pursue them; and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, so that ^cthe Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” And they did so.

⁵Then the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

⁶So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him;

⁷and he took six hundred choice chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

^8aAnd Yahweh ¹hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, with strength, and he pursued the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out with an ^2bexalted hand.

⁹Then ^athe Egyptians pursued them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, ^bbeside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰Now Pharaoh drew near, and the sons of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very afraid; ^aso the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.

¹¹Then ^athey said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What is this you have done against us in ¹bringing us out of Egypt?

¹²“^aIs this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘¹Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than for us to die in the wilderness.”

¹³But Moses said to the people, “^aDo not fear! ¹Stand by and see ^bthe salvation of Yahweh which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.

¹⁴“^aYahweh will fight for you, and ^byou will keep silent.”

¹⁵Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Speak to the sons of Israel so that they go forward.

¹⁶“As for you, raise up ^ayour staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, and the sons of Israel shall ¹go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

¹⁷“As for Me, behold, ^aI will ¹harden the hearts of the Egyptians with strength so that they will go in after them; and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.

¹⁸“^aThen the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh, when I am glorified through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.”

^19aThen the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

²⁰So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud ¹along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night.

^21aThen Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Yahweh ¹swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea into ^bdry ground, so ^cthe waters were split.

^22aSo the sons of Israel ¹went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and ^bthe waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

²³Then ^athe Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea.

²⁴Then at the morning watch, ^aYahweh looked down on the camp of the Egyptians ¹through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the camp of the Egyptians into confusion.

²⁵And He ¹caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let ²us flee from Israel, ^afor Yahweh is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶Then Yahweh said to Moses, “^aStretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.”

²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and ^athe sea returned to its normal state at daybreak while the Egyptians were fleeing ¹right into it; then Yahweh ^2boverthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

²⁸And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, ¹even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; ^anot even one of them remained.

²⁹But the sons of Israel walked on ^adry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

^30aThus Yahweh saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel ^bsaw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

³¹Then Israel saw the great hand which Yahweh had ¹used against the Egyptians; and the people ²feared Yahweh, and ^athey believed in Yahweh and in His servant Moses.

CHAPTER 15

The Song of Moses and Israel

^1aThen Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to Yahweh ¹and said,

“^2bI will sing to Yahweh, for He ³is highly exalted;

^cThe horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.

²“^1aYah is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation;

^bThis is my God, and I will praise Him;

^cMy father’s God, and I will ^dextol Him.

³“^aYahweh is a warrior;

^bYahweh is His name.

⁴“^aPharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea;

And the choicest of his officers are sunk in the ¹Red Sea.

⁵“The deeps cover them;

^aThey went down into the depths like a stone.

⁶“^aYour right hand, O Yahweh, is majestic in power,

^bYour right hand, O Yahweh, shatters the enemy.

⁷“And in the greatness of Your ¹exaltation You ^apull down those who rise up against You;

^bYou send forth Your burning anger, and it ^cdevours them as chaff.

⁸“^aAnd at the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up,

^bThe flowing waters stood up like a heap;

The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹“^aThe enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will ^bdivide the spoil;

My ¹desire shall be fulfilled against them;

I will draw out my sword, my hand will dispossess them.’

¹⁰“^aYou blew with Your wind, the sea covered them;

^bThey sank like lead in the ¹mighty waters.

¹¹“^aWho is like You among the gods, O Yahweh?

Who is like You, ^bmajestic in holiness,

^cFearsome in praises, ^dworking wonders?

¹²“^aYou stretched out Your right hand,

The earth swallowed them.

¹³“In Your lovingkindness You have ^aguided the people whom You have ^bredeemed;

In Your strength You have led them ^cto Your holy habitation.

¹⁴“^aThe peoples have heard, they tremble;

Anguish has seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

¹⁵“Then the ^achiefs of Edom were dismayed;

^bThe leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them;

^cAll the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

¹⁶“^aTerror and dread fall upon them;

^bBy the greatness of Your arm they are still as stone;

Until Your people pass over, O Yahweh,

Until the people pass over whom You ^chave purchased.

¹⁷“^aYou will bring them and ^bplant them in ^cthe mountain of Your inheritance,

^dThe place, O Yahweh, which You have made for You to inhabit,

^eThe sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

¹⁸“^aYahweh shall reign forever and ever.”

^19aFor the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, and Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the sons of Israel walked on ^bdry land through the midst of the sea.

^20aAnd Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the ^btambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with ^1cdancing.

²¹And Miriam answered them,

“^aSing to Yahweh, for He ¹is highly exalted;

The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.”

Yahweh Sweetens the Water

^22aThen Moses ¹had Israel set out from the ²Red Sea, and they went out into ^bthe wilderness of ^cShur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

²³And they came to ^aMarah, but they could not drink the waters ¹of Marah, for they were ²bitter; therefore it was named ³Marah.

²⁴So the people ^agrumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

²⁵Then he ^acried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him ^ba tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.

There He ^cset for them a statute and a judgment, and there He ^dtested them.

²⁶And He said, “^aIf you will earnestly listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear ^bto His commandments, and keep all His statutes, ^cI will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, ^dYahweh, am your healer.”

²⁷Then they came to ^aElim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.