Crossing the Red Sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel to turn around and set up their tents in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. Set up your tents in front of Baal-zephon, beside the sea. ³ For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They have lost their way. The desert has shut them in.’ ⁴ I will make Pharaoh’s heart hard. And he will try to catch them. So I will be honored through Pharaoh and his whole army. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had left, Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about the people. They said, “What is this we have done? We have let Israel go from working for us.” ⁶ So he made his war-wagon ready and took his people with him. ⁷ He took 600 of the best war-wagons, and all the other war-wagons of Egypt in the care of leaders. ⁸ The Lord made the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt hard. And Pharaoh went to catch the people of Israel, who were leaving without fear. ⁹ The Egyptians followed them with all the horses and war-wagons of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army. And they came to them at their tents by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh came near, the people of Israel looked and saw the Egyptians coming after them. And they were filled with fear and cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Did we not tell you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die here.”

¹³ But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid! Be strong, and see how the Lord will save you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today, you will never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you. All you have to do is keep still.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to keep going. ¹⁶ Lift up your special stick and put out your hand over the sea, and divide it. Then the people of Israel will go through the sea on dry land. ¹⁷ I will make the Egyptians’ hearts hard, so they will go after them. And I will be honored through Pharaoh and his whole army, his war-wagons and his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I am honored through Pharaoh, his war-wagons and his horsemen.” ¹⁹ Then the Angel of God, who had been going in front of the army of Israel, moved and went behind them. The cloud moved from the front of them and stood behind them. ²⁰ It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. There was the cloud and the darkness, yet it gave light at night. And the one army did not come near the other all night. ²¹ Then Moses put out his hand over the sea. And the Lord moved the sea all night by a strong east wind. So the waters were divided. ²² And the people of Israel went through the sea on dry land. The waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left. ²³ Then the Egyptians followed them. All Pharaoh’s horses and war-wagons and horsemen went in the sea after them. ²⁴ In the morning hours, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army through the fire and cloud. And He made the Egyptian army afraid. ²⁵ He made the wheels of their war-wagons come off, so it was hard for the wagons to be moved. So the Egyptians said, “Let us run away from Israel. For the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand over the sea. And the waters will flow over the Egyptians, and over their war-wagons and their horsemen.” ²⁷ And when the morning came, the Egyptians ran into the wall of water as the sea returned to the way it was before. The Lord destroyed the Egyptians in the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned and covered the war-wagons and the horsemen and Pharaoh’s whole army that had gone in the sea after them. Not even one of them was left. ²⁹ But the people of Israel walked on dry land through the sea. The waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left.

³⁰ So the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead beside the sea. ³¹ Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians. And the people had fear of the Lord. They believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.

15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is praised for His greatness. He has thrown the horse and horseman into the sea. ² The Lord is my strength and song. He is the One Who saves me. He is my God and I will praise Him. He is my father’s God and I will honor Him. ³ The Lord is a fighter. The Lord is His name. ⁴ He has thrown Pharaoh’s war-wagons and army into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s leaders are under the Red Sea. ⁵ The water covers them. They went down in the deep water like a stone. ⁶ O Lord, Your right hand is great in power. O Lord, Your right hand destroys those who hate You. ⁷ In the greatness of Your power You destroy those who fight against You. You send Your burning anger and it burns them like straw. ⁸ The waters were lifted up by Your breath. The flowing waters stood up like a wall. The water became hard in the middle of the sea. ⁹ Those who hated us said, ‘I will go after them. I will catch them. I will divide the riches taken from them. My soul will have its way against them. I will take out my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ ¹⁰ You, Lord, blew with Your wind and the sea covered them. They went down like iron in the powerful sea. ¹¹ Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, great and holy, praised in fear, doing powerful works? ¹² You put out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them. ¹³ You have led with loving-kindness the people You have made free. You have led them in Your strength to Your holy place. ¹⁴ The nations have heard of it, and they shake in fear. Pain has come upon the people of Philistia. ¹⁵ Now the leaders of Edom are afraid. The leaders of Moab shake in fear. All the people of Canaan have become weak. ¹⁶ Much fear comes upon them. They see Your strength, O Lord. They are afraid and do not move until Your people have passed by, the people You have bought and made free. ¹⁷ You will bring them in and put them on Your own mountain. It is the place, O Lord, where You have made Your house, the holy place, which Your hands have built. ¹⁸ The Lord will rule forever and ever.”

¹⁹ For Pharaoh’s horses and war-wagons and horsemen went in the sea. The Lord brought the waters of the sea upon them. But the people of Israel walked on dry land through the sea. ²⁰ Then Aaron’s sister Miriam, the woman who spoke for the Lord, took a timbrel in her hand. And all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. ²¹ Miriam said to them, “Sing to the Lord, for He is praised for His greatness. He has thrown the horse and horseman into the sea.”

Bitter Water

²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea. They went into the Desert of Shur. They went three days in the desert and found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. So it was given the name Marah. ²⁴ The people complained to Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” ²⁵ Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord made a Law for them and tested them. ²⁶ He said, “Listen well to the voice of the Lord your God. Do what is right in His eyes. Listen to what He tells you, and obey all His Laws. If you do this, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord Who heals you.”

²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy trees. They set up their tents there beside the water.

Bread in the Morning, Meat in the Evening

16 All the people of Israel left Elim, and came to the Desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. It was the fifteenth day of the second month after they left the land of Egypt. ² And all the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert, ³ saying, “We should have died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. For you have brought us out into this desert to kill all of us with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people will go out and gather a day’s share every day, so I may test them to see if they will follow My Law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as they gather each day.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to the people of Israel, “This evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ And in the morning you will see the greatness of the Lord. For He hears your complaining against the Lord. What are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸ Moses said, “The Lord is giving you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning. For He hears how you complain against Him. What are we? You complain not against us, but against the Lord.” ⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the people of Israel, ‘Come near to the Lord, for He has heard your complaining.’” ¹⁰ When Aaron spoke to all the people of Israel, they looked toward the desert. And they saw in the cloud the shining-greatness of the Lord. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the complaining of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘In the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening quails came and covered the place where the people were staying. And in the early morning a little water was around the tents. ¹⁴ When the water had gone, there were small white pieces all over the ground of the desert. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has told you to do: ‘Every man gather as much of it as he can eat. Take a jar for every person that each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ The people did so. Some gathered much and some less. ¹⁸ When they saw how much they had, he who had gathered much had no more than what was needed. And he who had gathered less had enough. Every man gathered as much as he could eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “Let no one save any of it until morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it until morning. And worms grew in it and it became bad to eat. So Moses was angry with them. ²¹ Morning after morning they gathered it, every man as much as he could eat. But when the sun became hot, it would melt.

²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two jars for each person. When all the leaders of the people came and told Moses, ²³ he said to them, “This is what the Lord said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of rest, a holy Day of Rest to the Lord. Make ready the food you will need for today. Then put aside what is left to be kept until morning.’” ²⁴ So they put it aside until morning, as Moses told them. And it did not become bad to eat, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today. For today is a Day of Rest to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you will gather it. But on the seventh day, the Day of Rest, there will be none.” ²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it. But they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “How much longer will you go against My Word and My Laws? ²⁹ See, the Lord has given you the Day of Rest. This is why He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Every man should stay home and not leave his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The people of Israel called it bread from heaven. It was like coriander seed, white, and tasted like bread made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Let a jar of it be kept for your children and grandchildren to come, so they may see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar full of the bread from heaven. And put it before the Lord, to be kept for all your children to come.” ³⁴ As the Lord told Moses, Aaron put it in front of the special box of the agreement to be kept. ³⁵ The people of Israel ate the bread from heaven forty years, until they came to a land where other people lived. They ate the bread from heaven until they came to the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (It took about ten jars to fill a large basket.)

Water from the Rock

17 All the people of Israel left the Desert of Sin, traveling from one place to another as the Lord told them. They set up their tents at Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. ² So the people argued with Moses, saying, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you argue with me? Why do you test the Lord?” ³ But the people were thirsty there for water. They complained against Moses, saying, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and animals with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses called to the Lord, saying, “What should I do with these people? They are almost ready to throw stones at me.” ⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Pass in front of the people and take some of the leaders of Israel with you. Take the special stick in your hand with which you hit the Nile, and go. ⁶ See, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb. When you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, with the leaders of Israel watching. ⁷ He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the arguing of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

War with Amalek

⁸ Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us. And go out and fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the special stick of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ Joshua did as Moses told him. He fought against Amalek. And Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ When Moses held up his hand, Israel would be winning. But when he let his hand down, Amalek would win. ¹² Moses’ hands became tired. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. His hands did not move until the sun went down. ¹³ So Joshua destroyed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this in a book, to be remembered, and tell Joshua that I will take away everything under heaven that would help you remember Amalek.” ¹⁵ Moses built an altar and gave it the name The Lord is My Banner. ¹⁶ And he said, “Because the Lord has promised to have war against Amalek through all time.”