14
Yahweh told Moses what he planned to do
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
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.
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.’
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.
The Egyptian army started to pursue the Israelis
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!”
6 So the king got his chariot and his army ready.
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.
8 Because Yahweh made the king of Egypt so stubborn that he and his army went to pursue the Israelis, who were leaving triumphantly,
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.
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.
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]!
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!”
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!
14 Yahweh will fight for you! Just keep quiet. There is nothing else that you will have to do.”
Yahweh caused the Egyptian army to drown in the sea
15-16 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.
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.
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.”
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
24 Just before dawn, Yahweh looked down from the fiery cloud, and then he caused the Egyptian army to panic.
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!”
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.