Exodus 14

Crossing the Red Sea

1Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell the people of Israel to ^aturn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between ^bMigdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4And ^cI will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will ^dget glory over Pharaoh and all his host, ^eand the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

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

10When 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 ^lcried out to the Lord. 11They ^msaid 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? 12Is not this what ⁿwe 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.” 13And Moses said to the people, ^o“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For ^pthe Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 ^qThe Lord will fight for you, and you have only ^rto be silent.”

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

19 ^yThen 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, 20coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night ▼

▼Septuagint  and the night passed

without one coming near the other all night.

21Then Moses ^aastretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by ^aba strong east wind all night and ^acmade the sea dry land, and the waters were ^addivided. 22And ^aethe people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being ^afa wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24And 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, 25clogging ▼

▼Or binding (compare Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac); Hebrew removing

their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the ^ahLord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

26Then the Lord said to Moses, ^ai“Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 ^ajSo Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea ^akreturned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord ^althrew ▼

▼Hebrew shook off

the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28The ^anwaters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, ^aonot one of them remained. 29But the ^appeople of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

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

Exodus 15

The Song of Moses

1Then Moses and the people of Israel ^atsang this song to the Lord, saying,

^au“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider ▼

▼Or its chariot; also verse 21

he has thrown into the sea.
2 ^awThe Lord is my strength and my ^axsong,
and he has become ^aymy salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
^azmy father’s God, and ^baI will exalt him.
3The Lord is ^bba man of war;
^bcthe Lord is his name.
4 ^bd“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen ^beofficers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5The ^bffloods covered them;
they ^bgwent down into the depths like a stone.
6 ^bhYour right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, ^bishatters the enemy.
7In the ^bjgreatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it ^bkconsumes them like stubble.
8At the ^blblast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the ^bmfloods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9The enemy said, ^bn‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I ^bowill divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10You ^bpblew with your wind; the ^bqsea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 ^br“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in ^bsglorious deeds, ^btdoing wonders?
12You stretched out ^buyour right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have ^bvled in your steadfast love the people whom ^bwyou have redeemed;
you have ^bxguided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 ^byThe peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15Now are the chiefs of Edom ^bzdismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of ^caMoab;
^cball the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16Terror and ^ccdread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm, they are still ^cdas a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom ^ceyou have purchased.
17You will bring them in and ^cfplant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,
^cgthe sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
18 ^chThe Lord will reign forever and ever.”
19For when ^cithe horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, ^cjthe 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. 20Then ^ckMiriam ^clthe prophetess, the ^cmsister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and ^cnall the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. 21And Miriam sang to them:

^co“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Bitter Water Made Sweet

22Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of ^cpShur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23When they came to ^cqMarah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. ▼

▼ Marah means bitterness

24And the people ^csgrumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25And he ^ctcried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, ▼

▼Or tree

and he ^cvthrew it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord ▼

▼Hebrew he

made for them a statute and a rule, and there he ^cxtested them, 26saying, ^cy“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 ^czdiseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, ^dayour healer.”

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

Psalms 66:6

6He ^dcturned the sea into dry land;
they ^ddpassed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,

Psalms 106:9-10

9He ^derebuked the Red Sea, and it ^dfbecame dry,
and he ^dgled them through the deep as through a desert.
10So he ^dhsaved them from the hand of the foe
and ^diredeemed them from the power of the enemy.

Psalms 136:13-15

13to him who ^djdivided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 ^dkand made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15but ^dloverthrew ▼

▼Hebrew shook off

Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

Isaiah 63:13

13who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.

1 Corinthians 10:2-3

2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and ^dnall ate the same ^dospiritual food,