Exodus 14
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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.
Speak to the children of Israel: Let them turn and encamp over against Phihahiroth which is between Magdal and the sea over against Beelsephon: you shall encamp before it upon the sea.
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.’
And Pharao will say of the children of Israel: They are straitened in the land, the desert hath shut 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 shall harden his heart, and he will pursue you: and I shall be glorified in Pharao, and in all his army: and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so.
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!”
And it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people was fled: and the heart of Pharao and of his servants was changed with regard to the people, and they said: What meant we to do, that we let Israel go from serving us?
6 So the king got his chariot and his army ready.
So he made ready his chariot, and took all his people 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.
And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots that were in Egypt: and the captains of the whole army.
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 Pharao king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel: but they were gone forth in a mighty hand.
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].
And when the Egyptians followed the steps of them who were gone before, they found them encamped at the sea side: all Pharao’s horse and chariots, and the whole army were in Phihahiroth before Beelsephon.
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].
And when Pharao drew near, the children of Israel, lifting up their eyes, saw the Egyptians behind them: and they feared exceedingly, and cried 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]!
And they said to Moses: Perhaps there were no graves in Egypt, therefore thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness: why wouldst thou do this, to lead 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!”
Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying: Depart from us that we may serve the Egyptians? for it was much better to serve them, 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!
And Moses said to the people: Fear not: stand and see the great wonders of the Lord, which he will do this day: for the Egyptians, whom you see now, you shall see no more for ever.
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, and you shall hold your peace.
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.
And the Lord said to Moses: Why criest thou to me? Speak to the children of Israel to go forward.
But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand over the sea, and divide it: that the children of Israel may go through the midst of 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 heart of the Egyptians to pursue you: and I will be glorified in Pharao, and in all his host, and in his chariots, and in his 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].”
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be glorified in Pharao, and in his chariots and in 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 went before the camp of Israel, removing, went behind them: and together with him the pillar of the cloud, leaving the forepart,
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.
Stood behind, between the Egyptians’ camp and the camp of Israel: and it was a dark cloud, and enlightening the night, so that they could not come at one another all the night.
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.
And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over the sea, the Lord took it away by a strong and burning wind blowing all the night, and turned it into dry ground: and the water was 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 children of Israel went in through the midst of the sea dried up: for the water was as a wall on their right hand 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 pursuing went in after them, and all Pharao’s horses, his chariots and horsemen through the midst of the sea,
24 Just before dawn, Yahweh looked down from the fiery cloud, and then he caused the Egyptian army to panic.
And now the morning watch was come, and behold the Lord looking upon the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, slew their host.
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!”
And overthrew the wheels of the chariots, and they were carried into the deep. And the Egyptians said: Let us flee from Israel: for the Lord fighteth for them against us.
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.”
And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth they hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon 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.
And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the sea, it returned at the first break of day to the former place: and as the Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came upon them, and the Lord shut them up in the middle of the waves.
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.
And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the army of Pharao, who had come into the sea after them, neither did there so much as one of them remain.
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 children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right hand and on the 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.
And the Lord delivered Israel on that day out of the hands of the Egyptians.
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.
And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore, and the mighty hand that the Lord had used against them: and the people feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord, and Moses his servant.
