Out of Egypt · c. 1446 BC
Chapter 6
Through the Sea
Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.”
For parents
The Egyptian army drowns when the sea comes back over it, and Israel sees the Egyptians dead on the seashore (Exodus 14:27–30). The song that follows praises God for throwing them into the sea. It is told plainly, without detail.
The said to , “Have the turn back and camp in front of , between and the sea, facing . Camp across from it, beside the sea.
“ will say about the Israelites, ‘They’ve lost their way. The wilderness has shut them in.’ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will come after them. Then I will be honored because of what I do to Pharaoh and his whole army. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And the Israelites did as he said.
When Pharaoh, the king of , heard that the people had run away, he and his officials felt differently about them. “What have we done?” they said. “We’ve let Israel go, and now they won’t serve us!”
Pharaoh got his chariot ready and took his army with him: six hundred of his best chariots, and every other chariot in Egypt, with officers over them all.
The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and Pharaoh chased the Israelites, who were leaving with their heads held high. The Egyptians went after them with all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen and his army. They caught up with the Israelites at their camp by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, facing Baal Zephon.
When Pharaoh came near, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were very afraid. They cried out to the Lord.
They said to Moses, “Were there no graves in Egypt? Is that why you’ve taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us like this and brought us out of Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this back in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone, so we can serve the Egyptians.’ Serving the Egyptians would have been better for us than dying in the wilderness!”
Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see how the Lord will save you today. You will never again see the Egyptians you have seen today. The Lord will fight for you, and you will be still.”
“Why are you crying out to me?” the Lord said to Moses. “Tell the Israelites to move forward. Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two. Then the Israelites will go into the middle of the sea on dry ground.
“I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will follow the Israelites in. I will be honored because of what I do to Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and his horsemen. When I have done this, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”
The of God, who had been going ahead of Israel’s camp, moved and went behind them. So did the of cloud. It left its place in front of them and went to stand behind them, between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. There was the cloud and the darkness, yet it gave light by night. All night long, neither camp came near the other.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord made the sea go back with a strong east wind that blew all night. The sea became dry land, and the water was split apart.
The Israelites went into the middle of the sea on dry ground, with the water standing like a wall on their right and on their left.
The Egyptians chased after them. All of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen followed them into the middle of the sea.
In the early morning hours, the Lord looked out at the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he confused them. He took the wheels off their chariots, so that the chariots were hard to drive. “Let’s run away from Israel!” the Egyptians said. “The Lord is fighting for them against us!”
The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, and the waters will come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots and on their horsemen.”
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and as morning came, the sea flowed back as strong as before. The Egyptians fled as it came, and the Lord threw them down in the middle of the sea. The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, all of Pharaoh’s army that had gone into the sea after Israel. Not even one of them was left.
But the Israelites had walked on dry land through the middle of the sea, with the water like a wall on their right and on their left.
So that day the Lord saved Israel out of the Egyptians’ hands, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great thing the Lord did to the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord. They believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They sang:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.The Lord is my strength and my song.He has become the one who saves me.This is my God, and I will praise him,my father’s God, and I will lift him high.The Lord is a warrior.Yahweh is his name.
He has thrown Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea.His best officers have sunk in the .The deep water covers them.They went down to the bottom like a stone.
Your right hand, Lord, is great in power.Your right hand, Lord, smashes the enemy to pieces.You are so great that you throw down everyone who rises against you.You send out your anger, and it burns them up like dry straw.You breathed out, and the waters piled up.The flowing water stood straight up in a heap.The deep water turned solid in the middle of the sea.
The enemy said, ‘I will chase them. I will catch them.I will share out what I take from them.I will have all I want of them.I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’Then you blew with your wind, and the sea covered them.They sank like heavy lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like you, Lord, among the gods?Who is like you, glorious and holy,praised with fear and wonder, doing amazing things?You stretched out your right hand.The earth swallowed them.
“In your loving kindness you have led the people you rescued.You have guided them in your strength to the holy place where you live.The nations have heard. They tremble.Pain has taken hold of everyone living in .The chiefs of are terrified.The mighty men of shake with fear.All who live in melt away in fear.Terror and dread fall on them.Your mighty arm makes them as still as a stoneuntil your people cross over, Lord,until the people you bought for yourself cross over.
You will bring them in, and you will plant them on the mountain that belongs to you,the place, Lord, that you made for yourself to live in,the holy place, Lord, that your hands have built.The Lord will be king forever and ever.”
Pharaoh’s horses had gone into the sea with his chariots and his horsemen, and the Lord had brought the water back over them. But the Israelites had walked on dry land through the middle of the sea.
Then Aaron’s sister , a , took a tambourine. All the women went out after her with tambourines, dancing.
Miriam answered them, singing:
“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.”
Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea, out into the wilderness of . They walked for three days in the wilderness and found no water.
When they came to , they couldn’t drink the water there, because it was bitter. That’s how Marah got its name: it means “bitter”.
The people grumbled against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they said. Moses cried out to the Lord. The Lord showed him a tree, and when Moses threw it into the water, the water turned sweet. There the Lord gave them a rule and a law, and there he tested them.
He said, “Listen closely to what the Lord your God tells you, and do what he sees as right. Pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his laws. If you do, I won’t give you any of the diseases I gave the Egyptians, because I am the Lord who heals you.”
They came to , where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They camped there by the water.