⁴ Then ^(A)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I ^(B)will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, ^(C)that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

⁵ Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and ^(D)the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ So he ^[a]made ready his chariot and took his people with him. ⁷ Also, he took ^(E)six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. ⁸ And the Lord ^(F)hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and ^(G)the children of Israel went out with boldness. ⁹ So the ^(H)Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel ^(I)cried out to the Lord. ^11 (J)Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? ^12 (K)Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

¹³ And Moses said to the people, ^(L)“Do not be afraid. ^(M)Stand still, and see the ^(N)salvation^[b] of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall ^(O)see again no more forever. ^14 (P)The Lord will fight for you, and you shall ^(Q)hold^[c] your peace.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. ¹⁶ But ^(R)lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ¹⁷ And I indeed will ^(S)harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will ^(T)gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

¹⁹ And the Angel of God, ^(U)who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. ²⁰ So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

²⁷ And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” ²⁸ Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?”

And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So ^(A)we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”

³⁰ Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he ^(B)tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body. ³¹ Then he said, ^(C)“God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!”

³² But Elisha was sitting in his house, and ^(D)the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, ^(E)“Do you see how this son of ^(F)a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” ³³ And while he was still talking with them, there was the messenger, coming down to him; and then the king said, “Surely this calamity is from the Lord; ^(G)why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

The Syrians Flee

7 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: ^(H)‘Tomorrow about this time a ^[a]seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ”

^2 (I)So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, ^(J)if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”

And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

The Beast from the Earth

¹¹ Then I saw another beast ^(A)coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. ¹² And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, ^(B)whose deadly wound was healed. ^13 (C)He performs great signs, ^(D)so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. ^14 (E)And he deceives ^[a]those who dwell on the earth ^(F)by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword ^(G)and lived. ¹⁵ He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak ^(H)and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, ^(I)to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and that no one may buy or sell except one who has ^[b]the mark or ^(J)the name of the beast, ^(K)or the number of his name.

^18 (L)Here is wisdom. Let him who has ^(M)understanding calculate ^(N)the number of the beast, ^(O)for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.