Crossing the Red Sea

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the people of Israel to tturn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between uMigdol 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 vI will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will wget glory over Pharaoh and all his host, xand 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 ymind 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 zsix hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. ⁸And vthe Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while athe people of Israel were going out defiantly. ⁹The bEgyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them cencamped 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 dcried out to the Lord. ¹¹They esaid 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 fwe 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, g“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For hthe Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. ¹⁴iThe Lord will fight for you, and you have only jto be silent.”

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

¹⁹oThen 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 night1 without one coming near the other all night.

²¹Then Moses kstretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by pa strong east wind all night and qmade the sea dry land, and the waters were rdivided. ²²And sthe people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being ta 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, ²⁵clogging2 their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the uLord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, v“Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” ²⁷wSo Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea xreturned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord ythrew3 the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. ²⁸The zwaters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, anot one of them remained. ²⁹But the bpeople 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 csaved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹dIsrael saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they ebelieved in the Lord and in his servant Moses.