Exodus 14:1–14

Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol^l and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.^{m 3}Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ ⁴And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,ⁿ and he will pursue them.^o But I will gain glory^p for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”^q So the Israelites did this.

⁵When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled,^r Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds^s about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” ⁶So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. ⁷He took six hundred of the best chariots,^t along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. ⁸The Lord hardened the heart^u of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.^{v 9}The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses^w and chariots, horsemen^a and troops^x—pursued the Israelites and overtook^y them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.^z

¹⁰As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried^a out to the Lord. ¹¹They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?^b What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹²Didn’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

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