Exodus 13:17-22

English Standard Version

Pillars of Cloud and Fire

¹⁷When Pharaoh let the people go, God did ^(A)not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people ^(B)change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸But God ^(C)led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. ¹⁹Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph^[a] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ^(D)“God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” ²⁰And ^(E)they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹And ^(F)the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. ²²The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

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Footnotes

Exodus 13:19 Samaritan, Septuagint; Hebrew he

Numbers 9:15-23

English Standard Version

The Cloud Covering the Tabernacle

¹⁵^(A)On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And ^(B)at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. ¹⁶So it was always: the cloud covered it by day^[a] and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷And whenever the cloud ^(C)lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. ¹⁸At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. ^(D)As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. ¹⁹Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel ^(E)kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. ²⁰Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. ²¹And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. ²²Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel ^(F)remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. ²³At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. ^(G)They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.