Exodus 14
Open in the reader1Then He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out,
2“Tell the children of Strives-with-God to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Tower-to-Syene and the Sea. You are to encamp by the Sea, directly opposite Baal-of-the-North.
3For Pharaoh will say of the children of Strives-with-God, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’
4And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Two-Straitsians will know that I am He-Who-Is.” So this is what the Israelites did.
5When the king of Two-Straits was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Strives-with-God from serving us.”
6So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him.
7He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Two-Straits, with officers over all of them.
8And He-Who-Is hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Two-Straits so that he pursued the children of Strives-with-God, who were marching out defiantly.
9The Two-Straitsians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the Sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-of-the-North.
10As Pharaoh approached, the children of Strives-with-God looked up and saw the Two-Straitsians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to He-Who-Is.
11They said to Drawn-Out, “Was it because there were no graves in Two-Straits that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Two-Straits?
12Did we not say to you in Two-Straits, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Two-Straitsians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Two-Straitsians than to die in the wilderness.”
13But Drawn-Out told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see He-Who-Is’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.
14He-Who-Is will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
15Then He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the children of Strives-with-God to go forward.
16And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the Sea and divide it, so that the children of Strives-with-God can go through the Sea on dry ground.
17And I will harden the hearts of the Two-Straitsians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen.
18The Two-Straitsians will know that I am He-Who-Is when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19And the messenger of God, who had gone before the camp of Strives-with-God, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
20so that it came between the camps of Two-Straits and Strives-with-God. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other.
21Then Drawn-Out stretched out his hand over the Sea, and all that night He-Who-Is drove back the Sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,
22and the children of Strives-with-God went through the Sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
23And the Two-Straitsians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the Sea.
24At morning watch, however, He-Who-Is looked down on the army of the Two-Straitsians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.
25He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the children of Strives-with-God,” said the Two-Straitsians, “for He-Who-Is is fighting for them against Two-Straits!”
26Then He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out, “Stretch out your hand over the Sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Two-Straitsians and their chariots and horsemen.”
27So Drawn-Out stretched out his hand over the Sea, and at daybreak the Sea returned to its normal state. As the Two-Straitsians were retreating, He-Who-Is swept them into the Sea.
28The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the Sea. Not one of them survived.
29But the children of Strives-with-God had walked through the Sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
30That day He-Who-Is saved Strives-with-God from the hand of the Two-Straitsians, and Strives-with-God saw the Two-Straitsians dead on the shore.
31When Strives-with-God saw the great power that He-Who-Is had exercised over the Two-Straitsians, the people feared He-Who-Is and believed in Him and in His servant Drawn-Out.