出埃及記 14
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
過紅海
14 耶和華對摩西說： 2 「你吩咐以色列人改變方向，在比·哈希錄附近的海邊紮營，在紅海和密奪之間，對面是巴力·洗分。 3 法老必定以為你們走迷了路，被困在曠野。 4 我要使法老的心剛硬，使他派兵追趕你們。我要在法老和埃及軍兵身上得到榮耀，好叫埃及人知道我是耶和華。」於是，以色列人依言而行。
5 有人向埃及王報信，說以色列百姓逃走了。法老和他的臣僕便改變主意，說：「我們怎麼可以讓以色列人就這樣離開我們，不再服侍我們呢？」 6 法老便吩咐人預備戰車，他親自領軍， 7 率領埃及所有的戰車，包括六百輛最精銳的戰車，每輛車上都有戰車長。 8 耶和華使法老的心剛硬，法老就追趕毫無懼色地離開埃及的以色列人。 9 埃及大軍的戰車騎兵傾巢而出，沿著海邊追趕，在巴力·洗分對面的比·哈希錄附近追上了正在那裡安營的以色列人。
10 以色列人看見法老大軍追了上來，非常害怕，便呼求耶和華。 11 他們對摩西說：「難道埃及沒有墳地，要你帶我們出來死在曠野嗎？為什麼要帶我們離開埃及呢？ 12 我們對你說過，別管我們，就讓我們服侍埃及人吧。服侍埃及人總比死在曠野好啊！」 13 摩西對百姓說：「你們不用害怕，站穩了，看耶和華用什麼方法解救你們。你們再也看不到你們今天看到的埃及人了。 14 耶和華必為你們爭戰，你們要保持鎮靜。」 15 耶和華對摩西說：「為什麼向我呼求呢？吩咐以色列人往前走吧。 16 你舉手向海伸出手杖，把海水分開，以色列人可以從中間的乾地走過去。 17 我要使埃及人的心剛硬，他們會緊追不捨，跟著你們走進海底。我要在法老及其大軍、戰車和騎兵身上得到榮耀。 18 當我在法老及其戰車和騎兵身上得到榮耀時，埃及人就知道我是耶和華。」
19 這時，在以色列人前面領路的上帝的天使，轉到百姓後面，雲柱也隨著移到後面立住。 20 雲柱停在埃及軍隊和以色列人的中間，埃及軍隊這邊一片黑暗，以色列人那邊卻有光，雙方整夜都無法接近對方。
21 摩西向海伸出手，耶和華便整夜用強勁的東風吹退海水，將海底變成乾地。海水分開後， 22 以色列人踏著乾地走入海中，海水如兩道牆立在他們左右。 23 法老的軍兵車馬緊追不捨，都跟著下到海中。 24 到了破曉時分，耶和華從雲柱火柱中俯視埃及軍隊，擾亂他們的隊伍。 25 祂使他們戰車的輪子脫落，難以前行。於是，埃及人說：「我們逃命吧，因為耶和華在幫助以色列人對付我們！」
26 耶和華對摩西說：「你向海伸出手，使海水回流，淹沒埃及軍隊。」 27 天剛亮的時候，摩西向海伸出手，海水便復原。埃及人紛紛向岸上逃命，耶和華卻使大水把他們捲回海中。 28 海水回流，法老的戰車和人馬都淹沒在大海之中，全軍覆沒。 29 全體以色列人卻在乾地上走過紅海，海水在他們兩邊築成水牆。 30 那天，耶和華就這樣從埃及人手中拯救了以色列人。後來，以色列人還看見埃及人的屍體橫在海邊。 31 以色列百姓親眼看見耶和華怎樣以大能對付埃及人，他們就敬畏耶和華，又信服祂和祂的僕人摩西。
Exodus 14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 14
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites: Let them turn about and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea.(A) Camp in front of Baal-zephon,[a] just opposite, by the sea. 3 Pharaoh will then say, “The Israelites are wandering about aimlessly in the land. The wilderness has closed in on them.” 4 I will so harden Pharaoh’s heart that he will pursue them. Thus I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.
This the Israelites did. 5 (B)When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart about the people. “What in the world have we done!” they said. “We have released Israel from our service!” 6 So Pharaoh harnessed his chariots and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred select chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, with officers[b] on all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites while they were going out in triumph. 9 The Egyptians pursued them—all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, his horsemen,[c] and his army—and caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
Crossing the Red Sea. 10 Now Pharaoh was near when the Israelites looked up and saw that the Egyptians had set out after them. Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to the Lord. 11 To Moses they said, “Were there no burial places in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? Far better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses answered the people, “Do not fear! Stand your ground and see the victory the Lord will win for you today. For these Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you have only to keep still.”
15 Then the Lord said to Moses: Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to set out. 16 And you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two, that the Israelites may pass through the sea on dry land. 17 But I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
19 The angel of God,[d] who had been leading Israel’s army, now moved and went around behind them. And the column of cloud, moving from in front of them, took up its place behind them, 20 so that it came between the Egyptian army and that of Israel. And when it became dark, the cloud illumined the night; and so the rival camps did not come any closer together all night long.[e] 21 (C)Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind all night long and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, 22 so that the Israelites entered into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water as a wall to their right and to their left.
Rout of the Egyptians. 23 The Egyptians followed in pursuit after them—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen—into the midst of the sea. 24 But during the watch just before dawn, the Lord looked down from a column of fiery cloud upon the Egyptian army and threw it into a panic; 25 and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could drive only with difficulty. With that the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their horsemen. 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal flow. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward it when the Lord cast the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 (D)As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the horsemen. Of all Pharaoh’s army which had followed the Israelites into the sea, not even one escaped. 29 But the Israelites had walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water as a wall to their right and to their left. 30 Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of Egypt. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore 31 and saw the great power that the Lord had shown against Egypt, the people feared the Lord. They believed in the Lord(E) and in Moses his servant.
Footnotes
- 14:2 Pi-hahiroth…Migdol…Baal-zephon: these places have not been definitively identified. Even the relative position of Pi-hahiroth and Baal-zephon is not clear; perhaps the former was on the west shore of the sea, where the Israelites were, and the latter on the opposite shore.
- 14:7 Officers: cf. 1 Kgs 9:22; Ez 23:15. The Hebrew word shalish, rendered in 1 Kgs 9:22 as “adjutant,” has yet to have its meaning convincingly established. Given the very possible etymological connection with the number “three,” others suggest the translation “three-man crew” or, less likely, the “third man in the chariot” although Egyptian chariots carried two-man crews. The author of the text may have been describing the chariots of his experience without direct historical knowledge of Egyptian ways.
- 14:9 Horsemen: the usage here may be anachronistic, since horsemen, or cavalry, play a part in warfare only at the end of the second millennium B.C.
- 14:19 Angel of God: Hebrew mal’ak ha’elohim (Septuagint ho angelos tou theou) here refers not to an independent spiritual being but to God’s power at work in the world; corresponding to the column of cloud/fire, the expression more clearly preserves a sense of distance between God and God’s creatures. The two halves of the verse are parallel and may come from different narrative sources.
- 14:20 The reading of the Hebrew text here is uncertain. The image is of a darkly glowing storm cloud, ominously bright, keeping the two camps apart.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.