Chapter 14

v1 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. v2 He said: Tell the *Israelites that they must stop. Tell them that they must stay near Pihahiroth. This is a place between Migdol and the sea. They must stay by the sea, across from Baal-zephon. v3 Then Pharaoh will think: The *Israelites are confused. They are walking round and round the country. The *desert has shut them in. v4 And I will cause Pharaoh to think cruel thoughts. He will go after the *Israelites. Then I will show how great I am, by Pharaoh and his whole army. Because of this, the *Egyptians will know that I am the *Lord. So the *Israelites obeyed God. v5 Someone told the king of Egypt that the *Israelites had run away. Then Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about the *Israelites. They said: We have done a silly thing. We have let the *Israelites go. We have lost our slaves! v6 So Pharaoh prepared his *chariot and he took his army with him. v7 He took 600 of his best *chariots with him. He also took all the other *chariots of Egypt, with officers to drive them. v8 And the *Lord made Pharaoh, king of Egypt think more cruel thoughts. So Pharaoh followed after the brave *Israelites, when they marched out. v9 The *Egyptians went after the *Israelites. They went with all Pharaohs horses, *chariots and soldiers. They came near to the *Israelites, who were by the sea. It was near Pihahiroth, across from Baal-zephon. v10 Pharaoh was coming nearer. The *Israelites looked up. They saw that the *Egyptians had marched after them. Then the *Israelites were afraid and they shouted aloud to the *Lord. v11 They said to Moses: There are many places in Egypt to bury dead people! You did not have to bring us here! Have you brought us here to die in the *desert? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? v12 We said to you in Egypt: Leave us alone. Let us work for the *Egyptians. It would have been better for us to do that. Then, anyway, we would not die in the *desert! v13 Then Moses spoke to the people. He said: Do not be afraid. Stand quietly. See how the *Lord will save you today. The *Egyptians that you see today you will never see again. v14 The *Lord will fight for you. You will only have to be quiet. v15 Then the *Lord said to Moses: Do not shout aloud to me. *Command the *Israelites to march on. v16 Lift up your stick. Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the water will become two separate parts. Then the *Israelites can cross the sea on dry ground. v17 I will make the *Egyptians angry and they will follow the *Israelites into the sea. And I will show my powerful authority by Pharaoh and by his army and by all his *chariots. v18 Then the *Egyptians will know that I am the *Lord. v19 The *angel of God went in front of the army of the *Israelites. Now he moved and he went behind them. The special cloud moved also and it stood behind the army. v20 It stood between the *Egyptian army and the *Israelite army. During the whole night, the *Egyptians were in the dark, because of the cloud. But the *Israelites were in the light, because there was fire in the cloud. So the *Egyptians stayed away from the *Israelites during the whole night. v21 Then Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. During that whole night, the *Lord made the sea go back. He did this with a strong wind that made the water into two separate parts. The ground below the sea became like dry land. v22 Then the *Israelites walked on the dry ground in the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.

v23 The *Egyptians went after them and followed them into the middle of the sea. All Pharaohs horses and his *chariots did this. And so did the men who drove the *chariots. v24 In the early morning, the *Lord looked down, from the cloud with fire in it. He looked at the *Egyptian army and he confused them. v25 Their *chariots could not move easily in the sand. It became very difficult for the *Egyptians to drive their *chariots. So the *Egyptians said: Let us run away from the *Israelites. It is the *Lord who fights for them, against Egypt. v26 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. He said: Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the waters will return. They will cover the *Egyptians, their *chariots and the men who drive them. v27 So Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. And at dawn, the sea returned to its own place. The *Egyptians ran away from the water, as fast as they could. But the *Lord killed them. The *Egyptians drowned in the middle of the sea. v28 The water returned. It covered the *chariots and the men that drove them. The water covered Pharaohs whole army that had followed the *Israelites into the sea. Not one of those men remained alive. v29 But the *Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side. v30 On that day, the *Lord saved the *Israelites from the *Egyptians. The *Israelites saw the dead bodies of the *Egyptians, which lay on the shore. v31 Then the *Israelites saw what a great thing the *Lord had done against the *Egyptians. So the *Israelites were afraid of the *Lord. But they believed that he loved them. They also loved and obeyed Moses, the *Lords servant.