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The Song of Moses

15 (A)(B) (C) Moses and the Israelites sang this song in praise of the Lord:

I sing praises to the Lord
    for his great victory!
He has thrown the horses
and their riders
    into the sea.
(D) The Lord is my strength,
the reason for my song,
    because he has saved me.
I praise and honor the Lord
he is my God and the God
    of my ancestors.
The Lord is his name,
    and he is a warrior!
He threw the chariots and army
of Egypt's king[a]
    into the Red Sea,[b]
and he drowned the best
    of the king's officers.
They sank to the bottom
    just like stones.

With the tremendous force
of your right arm, our Lord,
    you crushed your enemies.
What a great victory was yours,
when you defeated everyone
    who opposed you.
Your fiery anger wiped them out,
    as though they were straw.
You were so furious
that the sea piled up
    like a wall,
and the ocean depths
    curdled like cheese.

Your enemies boasted
    that they would
pursue and capture us,
divide up our possessions,
treat us as they wished,
then take out their swords
    and kill us right there.
10 But when you got furious,
they sank like lead,
    swallowed by ocean waves.

11 Our Lord, no other gods
compare with you—
    Majestic and holy!
    Fearsome and glorious!
    Miracle worker!
12 When you signaled
    with your right hand,
your enemies were swallowed
    deep into the earth.

13 The people you rescued
were led by your powerful love
    to your holy place.
14 Nations learned of this
    and trembled—
Philistines shook with horror.
15 The leaders of Edom and of Moab
    were terrified.
Everyone in Canaan fainted,
16     struck down by fear.
Our Lord, your powerful arm
    kept them still as a rock
until the people you rescued
to be your very own
    had marched by.

17 You will let your people settle
    on your own mountain,
where you chose to live
    and to be worshiped.
18 Our Lord, you will rule forever!

The Song of Miriam

19 The Lord covered the royal Egyptian cavalry and chariots with the sea, after the Israelites had walked safely through on dry ground. 20 Miriam the sister of Aaron was a prophet. So she took her tambourine and led the other women out to play their tambourines and to dance. 21 Then she sang to them:

“Sing praises to the Lord
    for his great victory!
He has thrown the horses
and their riders into the sea.”

Bitter Water at Marah

22 After the Israelites left the Red Sea,[c] Moses led them through the Shur Desert for three days, before finding water. 23 They did find water at Marah, but it was bitter, which is how that place got its name.[d] 24 The people complained and said, “Moses, what are we going to drink?”

25 (E) Moses asked the Lord for help, and the Lord told him to throw a certain piece of wood into the water. Moses did so, and the water became fit to drink.

At Marah the Lord tested his people and also gave them some laws and teachings. 26 Then he said, “I am the Lord your God, and I cure your diseases. If you obey me by doing right and by following my laws and teachings, I won't punish you with the diseases I sent on the Egyptians.”

27 Later the Israelites came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and 70 palm trees. So they camped there.

Footnotes

  1. 15.4 Egypt's king: See the note at 1.11.
  2. 15.4 Red Sea: See the note at 13.18.
  3. 15.22 Red Sea: See the note at 13.18.
  4. 15.23 Marah … name: In Hebrew “Marah” means “bitter.”

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