Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn
back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to
encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, ‘The
Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the
desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will
gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will
know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled,
Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have
we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” So he had
his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the
best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over
all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he
pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians—all
Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and
overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there
were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to
the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it
because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?
What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in
Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better
for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and
you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you
see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only
to be still.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?
Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over
the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on
dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in
after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his
chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I
gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”
Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of
Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved
from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and
Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and
light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that
night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into
dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on
dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and
chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the
night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian
army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so
that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from
the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the
sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and
horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea
went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord
swept them into the sea. The water
flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh
that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with
a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved
Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead
on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed
against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him
and in Moses his servant. Exodus 14
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