Consecration of the Firstborn

13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 o“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

3 Then Moses said to the people, p“Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, qfor by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. rNo leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 Today, in the month of sAbib, you are going out. 5 And when the Lord brings you into tthe land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which uhe swore to your fathers to give you, a land vflowing with milk and honey, wyou shall keep this service in this month. 6 xSeven 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 for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8 yYou shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall zbe to you as a sign on your hand and as aa memorial zbetween your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 bYou shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

11 “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, cas he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 dyou shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. 13 eEvery firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every ffirstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 gAnd when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, h‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of islavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the jLord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but kall the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 lIt shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for mby a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

Pillars of Cloud and Fire

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did nnot lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people ochange their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God pled the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph1 had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, q“God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20 And rthey moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And sthe Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Crossing the Red Sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to tturn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between uMigdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And vI will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will wget glory over Pharaoh and all his host, xand the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the ymind 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?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took zsix hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And vthe Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while athe people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The bEgyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them cencamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel dcried out to the Lord. 11 They esaid to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what fwe said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave 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.” 13 And Moses said to the people, g“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For hthe Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 iThe Lord will fight for you, and you have only jto be silent.”

15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 kLift up your staff, and kstretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And lI will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and mI will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians nshall know that I am the Lord, mwhen I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19 oThen the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night1 without one coming near the other all night.

21 Then Moses kstretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by pa strong east wind all night and qmade the sea dry land, and the waters were rdivided. 22 And sthe people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being ta wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging2 their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the uLord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, v“Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 wSo Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea xreturned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord ythrew3 the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The zwaters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, anot one of them remained. 29 But the bpeople of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 Thus the Lord csaved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 dIsrael saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they ebelieved in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

The Song of Moses

15 Then Moses and the people of Israel fsang this song to the Lord, saying,

g“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider1 he has thrown into the sea.

2  hThe Lord is my strength and my isong,

and he has become jmy salvation;

this is my God, and I will praise him,

kmy father’s God, and lI will exalt him.

3  The Lord is ma man of war;

nthe Lord is his name.

4  o“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,

and his chosen pofficers were sunk in the Red Sea.

5  The qfloods covered them;

they rwent down into the depths like a stone.

6  sYour right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,

your right hand, O Lord, tshatters the enemy.

7  In the ugreatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;

you send out your fury; it vconsumes them like stubble.

8  At the wblast of your nostrils the waters piled up;

the xfloods stood up in a heap;

the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

9  The enemy said, y‘I will pursue, I will overtake,

I zwill divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.

I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’

10  You ablew with your wind; the bsea covered them;

they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

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

Who is like you, majestic in holiness,

awesome in dglorious deeds, edoing wonders?

12  You stretched out fyour right hand;

the earth swallowed them.

13  “You have gled in your steadfast love the people whom hyou have redeemed;

you have iguided them by your strength to your holy abode.

14  jThe peoples have heard; they tremble;

pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

15  Now are the chiefs of Edom kdismayed;

trembling seizes the leaders of lMoab;

mall the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

16  Terror and ndread fall upon them;

because of the greatness of your arm, they are still oas a stone,

till your people, O Lord, pass by,

till the people pass by whom pyou have purchased.

17  You will bring them in and qplant them on your own mountain,

the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,

rthe sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.

18  sThe Lord will reign forever and ever.”

19 For when tthe horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, uthe Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. 20 Then vMiriam wthe prophetess, the xsister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and yall the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:

z“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Bitter Water Made Sweet

22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of aShur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to bMarah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.2 24 And the people cgrumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he dcried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log,3 and he ethrew it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord4 made for them a statute and a rule, and there he ftested them, 26 saying, g“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the hdiseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, iyour healer.”

27 Then jthey came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.