Book Order Plan

¹Then the LORD gave these instructions to Moses:

²“Order the Israelites to turn back and camp by Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea. Camp there along the shore, across from Baal-zephon.

³Then Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are confused. They are trapped in the wilderness!’

⁴And once again I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD!” So the Israelites camped there as they were told.

⁵When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. “What have we done, letting all those Israelite slaves get away?” they asked.

⁶So Pharaoh harnessed his chariot and called up his troops.

⁷He took with him 600 of Egypt’s best chariots, along with the rest of the chariots of Egypt, each with its commander.

⁸The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance.

⁹The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army — all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon.

¹⁰As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the LORD,

¹¹and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt?

¹²Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”

¹³But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.

¹⁴The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

¹⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!

¹⁶Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground.

¹⁷And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers.

¹⁸When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory and know that I am the LORD!”

¹⁹Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them.

²⁰The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night.

²¹Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the LORD opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land.

²²So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!

²³Then the Egyptians — all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers — chased them into the middle of the sea.

²⁴But just before dawn the LORD looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion.

²⁵He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here — away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”

²⁶When all the Israelites had reached the other side, the LORD said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the sea again. Then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers.”

²⁷So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the LORD swept them into the sea.

²⁸Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers — the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived.

²⁹But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides.

³⁰That is how the LORD rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore.

³¹When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the LORD had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

¹Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea.

²The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him — my father’s God, and I will exalt him!

³The LORD is a warrior; Yahweh is his name!

⁴Pharaoh’s chariots and army he has hurled into the sea. The finest of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea.

⁵The deep waters gushed over them; they sank to the bottom like a stone.

⁶“Your right hand, O LORD, is glorious in power. Your right hand, O LORD, smashes the enemy.

⁷In the greatness of your majesty, you overthrow those who rise against you. You unleash your blazing fury; it consumes them like straw.

⁸At the blast of your breath, the waters piled up! The surging waters stood straight like a wall; in the heart of the sea the deep waters became hard.

⁹“The enemy boasted, ‘I will chase them and catch up with them. I will plunder them and consume them. I will flash my sword; my powerful hand will destroy them.’

¹⁰But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹“Who is like you among the gods, O LORD — glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders?

¹²You raised your right hand, and the earth swallowed our enemies.

¹³“With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed. In your might, you guide them to your sacred home.

¹⁴The peoples hear and tremble; anguish grips those who live in Philistia.

¹⁵The leaders of Edom are terrified; the nobles of Moab tremble. All who live in Canaan melt away;

¹⁶terror and dread fall upon them. The power of your arm makes them lifeless as stone until your people pass by, O LORD, until the people you purchased pass by.

¹⁷You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain — the place, O LORD, reserved for your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.

¹⁸The LORD will reign forever and ever!”

¹⁹When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers rushed into the sea, the LORD brought the water crashing down on them. But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground!

²⁰Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced.

²¹And Miriam sang this song: “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea.”

²²Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water.

²³When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).

²⁴Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded.

²⁵So Moses cried out to the LORD for help, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink. It was there at Marah that the LORD set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.

²⁶He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”

²⁷After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water.

¹Then the whole community of Israel set out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt.

²There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron.

³“If only the LORD had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”

⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.

⁵On the sixth day they will gather food, and when they prepare it, there will be twice as much as usual.”

⁶So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “By evening you will realize it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

⁷In the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us. What have we done that you should complain about us?”

⁸Then Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the LORD, not against us.”

⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Announce this to the entire community of Israel: ‘Present yourselves before the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.’”

¹⁰And as Aaron spoke to the whole community of Israel, they looked out toward the wilderness. There they could see the awesome glory of the LORD in the cloud.

¹¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹²“I have heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”

¹³That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew.

¹⁴When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground.

¹⁵The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, “It is the food the LORD has given you to eat.

¹⁶These are the LORD’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.”

¹⁷So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.

¹⁸But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.

¹⁹Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.”

²⁰But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.

²¹After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared.

²²On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual — four quarts for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation.

²³He told them, “This is what the LORD commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the LORD. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”

²⁴So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor.

²⁵Moses said, “Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the LORD. There will be no food on the ground today.

²⁶You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.”

²⁷Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food.

²⁸The LORD asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions?

²⁹They must realize that the Sabbath is the LORD’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.”

³⁰So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.

³¹The Israelites called the food manna. It was white like coriander seed, and it tasted like honey wafers.

³²Then Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: Fill a two-quart container with manna to preserve it for your descendants. Then later generations will be able to see the food I gave you in the wilderness when I set you free from Egypt.”

³³Moses said to Aaron, “Get a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Then put it in a sacred place before the LORD to preserve it for all future generations.”

³⁴Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded Moses. He eventually placed it in the Ark of the Covenant — in front of the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.

³⁵So the people of Israel ate manna for forty years until they arrived at the land where they would settle. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

³⁶The container used to measure the manna was an omer, which was one-tenth of an ephah; it held about two quarts.