Exodus 15-16
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Israel’s Song
15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:
I will sing to the Lord,
for He is highly exalted;
He has thrown the horse
and its rider into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song;[a]
He has become my salvation.(A)
This is my God, and I will praise Him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.(B)
3 The Lord is a warrior;(C)
Yahweh is His name.(D)
4 He threw Pharaoh’s chariots
and his army into the sea;
the elite of his officers
were drowned in the Red Sea.(E)
5 The floods covered them;
they sank to the depths like a stone.(F)
6 Lord, Your right hand is glorious in power.
Lord, Your right hand shattered the enemy.(G)
7 You overthrew Your adversaries
by Your great majesty.
You unleashed Your burning wrath;
it consumed them like stubble.(H)
8 The waters heaped up(I) at the blast of Your nostrils;
the currents stood firm like a dam.
The watery depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said:
“I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil.(J)
My desire will be gratified at their expense.
I will draw my sword;
my hand will destroy[b] them.”
10 But You blew with Your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
11 Lord, who is like You among the gods?
Who is like You, glorious in holiness,(K)
revered with praises, performing wonders?(L)
12 You stretched out Your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them.
13 You will lead the people
You have redeemed
with Your faithful love;
You will guide them to Your holy dwelling
with Your strength.(M)
14 When the peoples hear, they will shudder;
anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified;(N)
trembling will seize the leaders of Moab;
the inhabitants of Canaan will panic;
16 and terror(O) and dread will fall on them.
They will be as still[c] as a stone
because of Your powerful arm
until Your people pass by, Lord,
until the people whom You purchased[d] pass by.(P)
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of Your possession;(Q)
Lord, You have prepared the place
for Your dwelling;
Lord,[e] Your hands have established the sanctuary.
18 The Lord will reign(R) forever and ever!
19 When Pharaoh’s horses with his chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess,(S) Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with their tambourines and danced.(T) 21 Miriam sang to them:
Sing to the Lord,
for He is highly exalted;
He has thrown the horse
and its rider into the sea.
Water Provided
22 Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. 23 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter—that is why it was named Marah.[f] 24 The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?”(U) 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable.
He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there.(V) 26 He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh who heals you.”(W)
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms, and they camped there by the waters.
Manna and Quail Provided
16 The entire Israelite community departed from Elim and came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt.(X) 2 The entire Israelite community grumbled(Y) against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!”(Z)
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow My instructions.(AA) 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”[g]
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt;(AB) 7 in the morning you will see the Lord’s glory because He has heard your complaints about Him. For who are we that you complain about us?”(AC) 8 Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and more than enough bread in the morning, for He has heard the complaints that you are raising against Him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”(AD)
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’” 10 As Aaron was speaking to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there in a cloud the Lord’s glory appeared.(AE)
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God.”
13 So at evening quail(AF) came and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew evaporated, there were fine flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” because they didn’t know what it was.
Moses told them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.(AG) 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts[h] per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’”
17 So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. 18 When they measured it by quarts,[i] the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat.(AH) 19 Moses said to them, “No one is to let any of it remain until morning.” 20 But they didn’t listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and smelled. Therefore Moses was angry with them.
21 They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts[j] apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He told them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath(AI) to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning.’”
24 So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn’t smell or have any maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find any in the field. 26 For six days you may gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
27 Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you[k] refuse to keep My commands(AJ) and instructions? 29 Understand that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He will give you two days’ worth of bread. Each of you stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The house of Israel named the substance manna.[l](AK) It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Two quarts[m] of it are to be preserved throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
33 Moses told Aaron, “Take a container and put two quarts[n] of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be preserved throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron placed it before the testimony(AL) to be preserved.
35 The Israelites ate manna for 40 years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan.(AM) 36 (Two quarts are[o] a tenth of an ephah.)
Footnotes
- Exodus 15:2 Or might
- Exodus 15:9 Or conquer
- Exodus 15:16 Or silent
- Exodus 15:16 Or created
- Exodus 15:17 Some Hb mss, DSS, Sam, Tg read Lord
- Exodus 15:23 = bitter or bitterness
- Exodus 16:5 Lit as gathering day to day
- Exodus 16:16 Lit an omer
- Exodus 16:18 Lit by an omer
- Exodus 16:22 Lit two omers
- Exodus 16:28 The Hb word for you is pl, referring to the whole nation.
- Exodus 16:31 = what?; Ex 16:15
- Exodus 16:32 Lit A full omer
- Exodus 16:33 Lit a full omer
- Exodus 16:36 Lit The omer is
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