Exodus 14
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, across from Baal-zephon. Camp facing it, beside the sea.
3 Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has trapped them.’
4 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory through Pharaoh and his whole army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So they did this.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people. They said, “What have we done? We have let Israel go from serving us!”
6 He had his chariot harnessed and took his troops with him.
7 He took six hundred choice chariots, along with all the chariots of Egypt, with officers over every one of them.
8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, while the Israelites were leaving with their hands raised high.
9 The Egyptians pursued them—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen and his army—and caught up with them as they camped beside the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon.
10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD.
11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us here to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
12 Didn’t we tell you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so we can serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
13 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.
14 The LORD will fight for you, and you can be still.”
15 The LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.
16 As for you, raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
17 As for me, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so they will go in after them. I will gain glory through Pharaoh and his whole army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God, who had been going ahead of Israel’s camp, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front of them and stood behind them.
20 It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp. There was cloud and darkness, but it lit up the night, so neither side came near the other all night.
21 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind all night. He turned the sea into dry ground, and the waters were divided.
22 The Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued them and went after them into the middle of the sea—all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 During the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the Egyptian camp from the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian camp into confusion.
25 He made their chariot wheels come off, so they could barely move. Then the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from Israel, because the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so the waters will flow back over Egypt, over its chariots and horsemen.”
27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal course as Egypt fled toward it. The LORD swept Egypt into the middle of the sea.
28 The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone after them into the sea. Not one of them was left.
29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea, with the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
30 That day the LORD rescued Israel from the power of Egypt, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
31 Israel saw the great power the LORD had used against Egypt, and the people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in Moses, his servant.
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