Exodus 14
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
Then Yahweh 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.
“Say to the Israelites that they should turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You are to camp by the sea opposite Pi Hahiroth.
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.’
Pharaoh will say about the Israelites, 'They are wandering in the land. The wilderness has closed in on them.'
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.
I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. I will get honor because of Pharaoh and all his army. The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” So the Israelites camped as they were instructed.
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 Israelites had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people. They said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
6 So the king got his chariot and his army ready.
Then Pharaoh got his chariots ready 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 six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers on 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,
Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and the king pursued the Israelites. Now the Israelites had gone away in triumph.
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].
But the Egyptians pursued them, together with all his horses and chariots, his horsemen, and his army. They overtook the Israelites camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before 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].
When Pharaoh came close, the Israelites looked up and were surprised. The Egyptians were marching after them, and they were terrified. The Israelites cried out to Yahweh.
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, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt, that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us like this, 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!”
Is this not what we told you in Egypt? We said to you, 'Leave us alone, so we can work for the Egyptians.' It would have been better for us to work for 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!
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the rescue that Yahweh will provide for you today. For you will never see again the Egyptians whom you see today.
14 Yahweh will fight for you! Just keep quiet. There is nothing else that you will have to do.”
Yahweh will fight for you, and you will only have to stand 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 Yahweh said to Moses, “Why are you, Moses, continuing to call out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
Lift up your staff, reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it in two, so that the people of Israel may 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.
Be aware that I will harden the Egyptians' hearts so they will go after them. I will get honor because of Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and 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].”
Then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I have gotten honor because of 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,
The angel of God, who went before the Israelites, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from before them and went to stand 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.
The cloud came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. It was a dark cloud to the Egyptians, but it lit the night for the Israelites, so one side did not come near the other all 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.
Moses reached out with his hand over the sea. Yahweh drove the sea back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea into dry land. In this way 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.
The Israelites went into the middle of the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them 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.
The Egyptians pursued them. They went after them into the middle of the sea—all Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and horsemen.
24 Just before dawn, Yahweh looked down from the fiery cloud, and then he caused the Egyptian army to panic.
But in the early morning hours, Yahweh looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud. He caused panic among the Egyptians.
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!”
Their chariot wheels were clogged, and the horsemen drove with difficulty. So the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting 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.”
Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back onto the Egyptians, their chariots, and their 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 reached out with his hand over the sea, and it returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. The Egyptians fled into the sea, and Yahweh drove the Egyptians into the middle of it.
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 came back and covered Pharaoh's chariots, horsemen, and his entire army that had followed the chariots into the sea. No one 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.
However, the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea. The waters were a wall for them on their right hand 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.
So Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw dead Egyptians on the seashore.
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 Yahweh used against the Egyptians, the people honored Yahweh, and they trusted in Yahweh and in his servant Moses.
