Exodus 14
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 “Tell the Israeli people to turn around and go back and set up their tents in front of Pi-Hahiroth [town]. That town is between Migdol and the sea, across from Baal-Zephon [town]. Set up your tents there, close to the sea.
“Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon.
3 When the king [knows you have done that], he will think, ‘The Israeli people are confused. They are wandering around, and the desert blocks their path.’
For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’
4 But I will make the king stubborn [again], and he will [take his army and] pursue you. Then my people will praise/thank me for winning a victory over the king and his army. And the Egyptians will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].” So [Moses/I told my people that, and] they did what he/I told them to do.
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.
5 When someone told the king that the Israeli people had left [during the night], he and his officials changed their minds and said, “(What have we done?/What we have done was stupid!) [RHQ] The Israeli people will no longer be our slaves!”
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 released Israel from serving us.”
6 So the king got his chariot and his army ready.
So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him.
7 Then he selected 600 of the best chariots, and in each chariot he placed a driver, a soldier, and a commander, and they left. Other chariots, with a driver and a soldier in each of them, also went along.
He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.
8 Because Yahweh made the king of Egypt so stubborn that he and his army went to pursue the Israelis, who were leaving triumphantly,
And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.
9 the Egyptian army, with all the king’s horses and chariots and horsemen, pursued the Israelis. They caught up with them as they were camped near the sea, close to Pi-Hahiroth, in front of Baal-Zephon [town].
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.
10 When the king’s army got near, the Israeli people were surprised to see that the Egyptians were marching toward them. They were terrified; so they cried out to Yahweh [to help them].
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD.
11 Then they said to Moses/me, “Is it because there were no places in Egypt [where we could] be buried that you have brought us here to die in this desert [RHQ]? Look what you have done to us by bringing us out of Egypt [RHQ]!
They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
12 That is what we told you when we were in Egypt! We said, ‘Leave us alone, and let us work for the Egyptians [RHQ]!’ It would have been better for us to be slaves for the Egyptians than to die here in the desert!”
Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
13 Moses/I replied to the people, “Do not be afraid! Be brave, and see how Yahweh will rescue you! He will save you today, and the result will be that the Egyptians that you are looking at today—you will never see them again!
But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.
14 Yahweh will fight for you! Just keep quiet. There is nothing else that you will have to do.”
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
15 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Tell the people to stop crying out for me [to help them], and tell them to go forward. Lift up your stick and stretch it out toward the sea. The water will divide, so that all you Israeli people can go in the middle of the sea, walking on dry ground.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
17 I will make the Egyptians stubborn, so that they will try to follow you. And then as a result of [what I will do to the] king and his army and his chariots and his horsemen, [my people] will praise/thank me.
And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen.
18 And when I have won a glorious [victory] over the king and his chariots and his horsemen, the [other] Egyptians will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].”
The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God, who had been in front of the Israeli people, moved and went behind them. The tall bright cloud that had been in front of them also moved behind them,
And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
20 until it was between the Egyptian army and the Israeli people. The cloud caused the Egyptian army to be in the dark but it gave light for the Israelis. As a result, neither group could come near the other group during the whole night.
so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other.
21 [That evening], Moses/I stretched out his/my hand toward the sea. Then Yahweh sent a strong wind from the east. It blew all night and pushed the water apart, and it caused the ground between the water to dry up.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,
22 Then we Israeli people went on the dry land in the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on each side of us, on the right side and on the left side.
and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
23 Then the Egyptian army pursued them, and went after them into the middle of the sea, with their horses and their chariots and the chariot-drivers.
And the Egyptians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the sea.
24 Just before dawn, Yahweh looked down from the fiery cloud, and then he caused the Egyptian army to panic.
At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.
25 He caused the wheels of the chariots to get stuck [in the mud], so that they could hardly move. So the Egyptians said, “Yahweh is fighting for the Israelis and against us; let’s get out of here!”
He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”
26 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Stretch out your arm toward the sea again. Then the water will come back on the Egyptians and on their chariots and their horsemen.”
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.”
27 So Moses/I stretched out his/my arm, and as the sun was rising, the water returned to its normal level. The Egyptians tried to escape, but Yahweh hurled them back into the sea.
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea.
28 The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and the whole Egyptian army that had tried to follow us Israelis into the sea. Every one of the Egyptians drowned.
The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But we Israeli people had already crossed through the sea by walking on dry ground, with the water being [like two] walls, one on the right side and one on the left side.
But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
30 That is the way Yahweh saved the Israeli people from the Egyptian army on that day. The Israeli people saw the Egyptians lying dead, [with their bodies washed up] on the shore.
That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore.
31 The Israelis saw what Yahweh did to the Egyptians by his great power [MTY], and they were in awe of Yahweh. They trusted in Yahweh and they also trusted Moses/me.
When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.
