Pillars of Cloud and Fire
17 aWhen Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people bchange their minds when they see war and creturn to Egypt.” 18 dBut God led the people around eby 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 fMoses took the bones of Joseph with him, for gJoseph1 had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 hAnd the 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
1 iThen the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 jFor Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will kharden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and lI will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and mthe Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
7 cAnd they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, nthe mind 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 six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out odefiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
10 pWhen Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. qAnd the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 rThey said to Moses, s“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 twhat we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may userve 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, “Fear not, vstand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 wThe Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 xLift up your staff, and ystretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that zthe people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then athe angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and bthe 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 stretched out his hand over the sea, and cthe Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 dAnd the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a 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 Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, ethat the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw3 the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, fnot one of them remained. 29 But the people 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 saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel gsaw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
The Song of Moses
1 Then Moses and the people of Israel hsang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider4 he has thrown into the sea.
2 iThe Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
jthis is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a kman of war;
lthe Lord is his name.
4 m“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths nlike a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, oshatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your pmajesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; qit consumes them like stubble.
8 rAt the sblast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a theap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind; uthe sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 v“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, wmajestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing xwonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have yredeemed;
zyou have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 aThe peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
btrembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
call the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom you have dpurchased.
17 You will bring them in and eplant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
18 fThe Lord will reign forever and ever.”
19 For gwhen the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, hthe 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 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with itambourines and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the Lord, jfor 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 kinto the lwilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found mno water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.5 24 And the people ngrumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log,6 and he othrew it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the Lord7 made for them a statute and a rule, and there he ptested them, 26 saying, q“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, rI will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your shealer.”
