Crossing the Red Sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel to ^(A)turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between ^(B)Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. ³ For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ ⁴ And ^(C)I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will ^(D)get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, ^(E)and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the ^(F)mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, ⁷ and took ^(G)six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. ⁸ And ^(H)the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while ^(I)the people of Israel were going out defiantly. ⁹ The ^(J)Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them ^(K)encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel ^(L)cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They ^(M)said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Is not this what ^(N)we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” ¹³ And Moses said to the people, ^(O)“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For ^(P)the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. ^14 (Q)The Lord will fight for you, and you have only ^(R)to be silent.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. ^16 (S)Lift up your staff, and ^(T)stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ And ^(U)I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and ^(V)I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ And the Egyptians ^(W)shall know that I am the Lord, ^(X)when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

^19 (Y)Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, ²⁰ coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night^[a] without one coming near the other all night.

²¹ Then Moses ^(Z)stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by ^(AA)a strong east wind all night and ^(AB)made the sea dry land, and the waters were ^(AC)divided. ²² And ^(AD)the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being ^(AE)a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴ And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, ²⁵ clogging^[b] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the ^(AF)Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

Ish-bosheth Murdered

4 When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, ^(A)his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. ² Now Saul's son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth (^(B)for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin; ^3 (C)the Beerothites fled ^(D)to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day).

^4 (E)Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan ^(F)came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

⁵ Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest. ⁶ And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him ^(G)in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.^{[a] 7} When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of ^(H)the Arabah all night, ⁸ and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, ^(I)who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.” ⁹ But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, ^(J)“As the Lord lives, ^(K)who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, ^10 (L)when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, ^(M)I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. ¹¹ How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now ^(N)require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” ¹² And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it ^(O)in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.

David Anointed King of Israel

5 Then all the tribes of Israel ^(P)came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, ^(Q)we are your bone and flesh. ² In times past, when Saul was king over us, ^(R)it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ^(S)‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince^[b] over Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, ^(T)and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron ^(U)before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. ⁴ David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and ^(V)he reigned forty years. ^5 (W)At Hebron he reigned over Judah ^(X)seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.^[c]

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

20 Now ^(A)Pashhur the priest, the son of ^(B)Immer, who was ^(C)chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ² Then ^(D)Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him ^(E)in the stocks that were in the upper ^(F)Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. ³ The next day, when ^(G)Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name ^(H)Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. ⁴ For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you ^(I)a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. ⁵ Moreover, ^(J)I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its ^(K)prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. ⁶ And you, ^(L)Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, ^(M)to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

⁷ And ^(A)crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(B)Son of ^(C)the Most High God? ^(D)I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is ^(E)Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹² and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed^[a] man, the one who had had ^(F)the legion, sitting there, ^(G)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷ And ^(H)they began to beg Jesus^[b] to depart from their region. ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and ^(I)tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in ^(J)the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Overcoming the World

5 ^(A)Everyone who believes that ^(B)Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and ^(C)everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. ^2 (D)By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For ^(E)this is the love of God, that we ^(F)keep his commandments. And ^(G)his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For ^(H)everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—^(I)our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes ^(J)that Jesus is the Son of God?