Exodus 13–15

Chapter 13

Consecration of the Firstborn

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²“^aSanctify to Me every firstborn, the first ¹offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.”

³Moses said to the people, “^aRemember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of ¹slavery; for ^bby ²a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place. ^cAnd nothing leavened shall be eaten.

⁴“On this day in the ^amonth of Abib, you are about to go forth.

⁵“It shall be when the Lord ^abrings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, which ^bHe swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, ^cthat you shall ¹observe this rite in this month.

⁶“For ^aseven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.

⁷“Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and ^anothing leavened shall be seen ¹among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders.

⁸“^aYou shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

⁹“And ^ait shall ¹serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder ²on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with ^ba powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

¹⁰“Therefore, you shall ^akeep this ordinance at its appointed time from ¹year to year.

¹¹“Now when ^athe Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as ^bHe swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you,

^12ayou shall ¹devote to the Lord the first ²offspring of every womb, and ³the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the Lord.

¹³“But ^aevery first ¹offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and ^bevery firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

¹⁴“^aAnd it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘^bWith a ¹powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of ²slavery.

¹⁵‘It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the ^aLord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the males, the first ¹offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

¹⁶“So ^ait shall ¹serve as a sign on your hand and as ²phylacteries ³on your forehead, for with a ⁴powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

God Leads the People

¹⁷Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “^aThe people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

¹⁸Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the ¹Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up ^ain martial array from the land of Egypt.

¹⁹Moses took ^athe bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely ¹take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.”

²⁰Then they set out from ^aSuccoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness.

^21aThe Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might ¹travel by day and by night.

²²¹He ^adid not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Chapter 14

Pharaoh in Pursuit

¹Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Tell the sons of Israel to 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“For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

⁴“Thus ^aI will ¹harden Pharaoh’s heart, and ^bhe will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and ^cthe Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

⁵When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, ¹Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart 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 select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

^8aThe Lord ¹hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out ^2bboldly.

⁹Then ^athe Egyptians chased after 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.

¹⁰As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel ¹looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; ^aso the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord.

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? Why have you dealt with us in this way, 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 to die in the wilderness.”

The Sea Is Divided

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

¹⁴“^aThe Lord will fight for you while ^byou keep silent.”

¹⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.

¹⁶“As for you, lift up ^ayour staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide 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 so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.

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

^19aThe 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 the Lord ¹swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into ^bdry land, so ^cthe waters were divided.

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

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

²⁴At the morning watch, ^athe Lord looked down on the ¹army of the Egyptians ²through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion.

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

²⁶Then the Lord 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 the Lord ^2boverthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

²⁸The 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 like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

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

³¹When Israel saw the great ¹power which the Lord had ²used against the Egyptians, the people ³feared the Lord, and ^athey believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.

Chapter 15

The Song of Moses and Israel

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

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

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

²“^1aThe Lord 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“^aThe Lord is a warrior;

^1bThe Lord is His name.

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

And the choicest of his officers are ¹drowned in the ²Red Sea.

⁵“The deeps cover them;

^aThey went down into the depths like a stone.

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

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

⁷“And in the greatness of Your ¹excellence You ^aoverthrow those who rise up against You;

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

⁸“^aAt 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 ²gratified against them;

I will draw out my sword, my hand will ³destroy 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 Lord?

Who is like You, ^bmajestic in holiness,

^cAwesome in praises, ^dworking wonders?

¹²“^aYou stretched out Your right hand,

The earth swallowed them.

¹³“In Your lovingkindness You have ^aled the people whom You have ^b…