Exodus 14:15-29

EasyEnglish Bible

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not continue to call to me for help! Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹⁶ You yourself must do this: Lift up your stick and hold your hand out over the sea. The water will become two separate parts. Then the Israelites can cross through the middle of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ This is what I, the Lord, will do: I will cause the minds of the Egyptians to become hard. They will follow the Israelites into the sea to catch them. I will show how great I am when I win against Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, his horses and their riders. ¹⁸ When I do that, the Egyptians will know that I really am the Lord. They will know that I am great.’

¹⁹ The angel of God had been leading the army of the Israelites. Now he moved and he went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved and it stood behind the army. ²⁰ It stood between the Egyptian army and the Israelite army. During the whole night, the Egyptians were in the dark, because of the cloud. But the cloud gave light to the Israelites. So the two armies did not come near to each other during the whole night.

²¹ Then Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. During that whole night, the Lord made a strong wind blow from the east. This caused the sea to become two separate parts. The ground between the water became dry land. ²² So the Israelites walked on the dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.

²³ The Egyptians followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea to catch them. All Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and their riders did this. ²⁴ Just before dawn, the Lord looked down from the pillar of cloud with fire in it. He saw the Egyptian army and he made them become confused. ²⁵ He stopped the wheels of their chariots, so that the Egyptians could not drive them properly. So the Egyptians said, ‘Let us run away from the Israelite army! It is the Lord who fights for them against Egypt.’

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the water will return back. The sea will cover the Egyptians, their chariots, their horses and their riders.’ ²⁷ So Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. At dawn, the sea returned to its proper place. The Egyptians tried to run away from the water, but the Lord made them drown in the middle of the sea.

²⁸ The water returned to its proper place. It covered all of Pharaoh's army that had followed the Israelites into the sea. It covered all the chariots, the horses and their riders. Not one of Pharaoh's soldiers was still alive! ²⁹ But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.