Bible Time

¹THEN Yahvah spoke to Moses, saying, ²Speak to the children of Israel that they turn back and encamp by the inlet of Kheritha, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baalzephon; opposite it you will encamp by the sea. ³For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are strangers in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. ⁴And Yahvah said to Moses, I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them; and I will triumph over Pharaoh, and over all his army; and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahvah. And they did so. ⁵And it was told the king of Egypt that the people had gone away; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants changed against the people, and they said, What have we done that we have let Israel go from serving us? ⁶And he made ready his chariots and took his people with him; ⁷And he took 600 chosen chariots and all chariots of the Egyptians and warriors over everyone of them. ⁸And Yahvah hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt and he pursued the children of Israel; but the children of Israel had gone out victoriously. ⁹And the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamping by the inlet of Kheritha, before Baalzephon.

¹⁰And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and saw the Egyptians marching after them; and they were terribly afraid; and the children of Israel prayed before Yahvah. ¹¹And they said to Moses, Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt thus with us, and brought us out of Egypt? ¹²Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness. ¹³And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, wait, and see the salvation of Yahvah, which he will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will not see again forever. ¹⁴Yahvah will fight for you, and you will hold your peace.

¹⁵And Yahvah said to Moses, Why do you pray before me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward; ¹⁶And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it; and the children of Israel will go on dry ground through the sea. ¹⁷And look, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, so that they will follow them; and I will triumph over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahvah, when I have been triumphant over Pharaoh, over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁹And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud moved from before them and stood behind them; ²⁰And it came between the army of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was cloudy and dark all the night, but it gave light all the night to the children of Israel, so that they could not draw near to each other all night.

²¹And Moses lifted up his hand over the sea; and Yahvah caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. ²²And the children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground; and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³And the Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴And it came to pass that in the morning watch Yahvah appeared to the Egyptians army in a pillar of fire and of cloud, and threw the Egyptian army into confusion, ²⁵Thus clogging their chariot wheels that they drew heavily, so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from before the house of Israel; for Yahvah fights for them against Egypt. ²⁶And Yahvah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea that the waters may come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots and on their horsemen. ²⁷And Moses lifted up his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its place when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and Yahvah overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. ²⁸And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not a single one of them. ²⁹But the children of Israel walked through the sea as if they were walking on the dry land; and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ³⁰Thus Yahvah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. ³¹And Israel saw that great work which Yahvah did against the Egyptians; and the people feared Yahvah, and believed Yahvah and his servant Moses.