Crossing the Sea

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”^(A)

¹¹ They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?^(A) What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”^(B)

The People Rebel

14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.^{(A) 2} All the Israelites grumbled^(B) against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt!^(C) Or in this wilderness!^{(D) 3} Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?^(E) Our wives and children^(F) will be taken as plunder.^(G) Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?^(H)” ⁴ And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.^(I)”

²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.^(A)

²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.

³⁹ “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^(A)

⁸ Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.”^(A)

³⁸ but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them^(A) in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.