Exodus 14-15

Common English Bible

Israel crossing the sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses: ²Tell the Israelites to turn back and set up camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea in front of Baal-zephon. You should set up camp in front of it by the sea. ³Pharaoh will think to himself, The Israelites are lost and confused in the land. The desert has trapped them. ⁴I’ll make Pharaoh stubborn, and he’ll chase them. I’ll gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. And they did exactly that.

⁵When Egypt’s king was told that the people had run away, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people. They said, “What have we done, letting Israel go free from their slavery to us?” ⁶So he sent for his chariot and took his army with him. ⁷He took six hundred elite chariots and all of Egypt’s other chariots with captains on all of them. ⁸The Lord made Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, stubborn, and he chased the Israelites, who were leaving confidently. ⁹The Egyptians, including all of Pharaoh’s horse-drawn chariots, his cavalry, and his army, chased them and caught up with them as they were camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰As Pharaoh drew closer, the Israelites looked back and saw the Egyptians marching toward them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. ¹¹They said to Moses, “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt like this? ¹²Didn’t we tell you the same thing in Egypt? ‘Leave us alone! Let us work for the Egyptians!’ It would have been better for us to work for the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”

¹³But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground, and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never ever see again. ¹⁴The Lord will fight for you. You just keep still.”

¹⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to get moving. ¹⁶As for you, lift your shepherd’s rod, stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two so that the Israelites can go into the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷But me, I’ll make the Egyptians stubborn so that they will go in after them, and I’ll gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh, all his army, his chariots, and his cavalry. ¹⁸The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his cavalry.”

¹⁹God’s messenger, who had been in front of Israel’s camp, moved and went behind them. The column of cloud moved from the front and took its place behind them. ²⁰It stood between Egypt’s camp and Israel’s camp. The cloud remained there, and when darkness fell it lit up the night. They didn’t come near each other all night.

²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord pushed the sea back by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. The waters were split into two. ²²The Israelites walked into the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. ²³The Egyptians chased them and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry. ²⁴As morning approached, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian camp from the column of lightning and cloud and threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. ²⁵The Lord jammed their chariot wheels so that they wouldn’t turn easily. The Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites, because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”

²⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water comes back and covers the Egyptians, their chariots, and their cavalry.” ²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. At daybreak, the sea returned to its normal depth. The Egyptians were driving toward it, and the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. ²⁸The waters returned and covered the chariots and the cavalry, Pharaoh’s entire army that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained. ²⁹The Israelites, however, walked on dry ground through the sea. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰The Lord rescued Israel from the Egyptians that day. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹Israel saw the amazing power of the Lord against the Egyptians. The people were in awe of the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Moses’ victory song

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

I will sing to the Lord, for an overflowing victory!
    Horse and rider he threw into the sea!
²The Lord is my strength and my power;^[a]
    he has become my salvation.
This is my God, whom I will praise,
    the God of my ancestors, whom I will acclaim.
³The Lord is a warrior;
    the Lord is his name.

⁴Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he hurled into the sea;
    his elite captains were sunk in the Reed Sea.^[b]
⁵The deep sea covered them;
    they sank into the deep waters like a stone.
⁶Your strong hand, Lord, is dominant in power;
    your strong hand, Lord, shatters the enemy!
⁷With your great surge you overthrow your opponents;
    you send out your hot anger; it burns them up like straw.
⁸    With the breath of your nostrils the waters swelled up,
        the floods surged up in a great wave;
        the deep waters foamed in the depths of the sea.
⁹The enemy said, “I’ll pursue, I’ll overtake,
    I’ll divide the spoils of war.
    I’ll be overfilled with them.
    I’ll draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.”
¹⁰You blew with your wind; the sea covered over them.
    They sank like lead in the towering waters.
¹¹Who is like you among the gods, Lord?
    Who is like you, foremost in holiness,
    worthy of highest praise, doing awesome deeds?
¹²You raised your strong hand;
    earth swallowed them up.
¹³With your great loyalty you led the people you rescued;
    with your power you guided them to your sanctuary.
¹⁴The peoples heard, they shook in terror;
    horror grabbed hold of Philistia’s inhabitants.
¹⁵Then Edom’s tribal chiefs were terrified;
    panic grabbed hold of Moab’s rulers;
    all of Canaan’s inhabitants melted in fear.
¹⁶Terror and fear came over them;
    because of your great power,
    they were as still as a stone
        until your people, Lord, passed by,
        until the people you made your own passed by.
¹⁷You brought them in and planted them on your own mountain,
    the place, Lord, that you made your home,
        the sanctuary, Lord, that your hand created.
¹⁸The Lord will rule forever and always.

¹⁹When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

Miriam’s victory song

²⁰Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand. All the women followed her playing tambourines and dancing. ²¹Miriam sang the refrain back to them:

Sing to the Lord, for an overflowing victory!
Horse and rider he threw into the sea!

Turning bitter water sweet

²²Then Moses had Israel leave the Reed Sea^[c] and go out into the Shur desert. They traveled for three days in the desert and found no water. ²³When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink Marah’s water because it was bitter. That’s why it was called Marah.^[d] ²⁴The people complained against Moses, “What will we drink?” ²⁵Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord pointed out a tree to him. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

The Lord made a regulation and a ruling there, and there he tested them. ²⁶The Lord said, “If you are careful to obey the Lord your God, do what God thinks is right, pay attention to his commandments, and keep all of his regulations, then I won’t bring on you any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the Lord who heals you.”

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