Pillars of Cloud and Fire

¹⁷ When 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.” ¹⁸ But 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.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the ^(A)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 ^(B)six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. ⁸ And ^(C)the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while ^(D)the people of Israel were going out defiantly. ⁹ The ^(E)Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them ^(F)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 ^(G)cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They ^(H)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 ^(I)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, ^(J)“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For ^(K)the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. ^14 (L)The Lord will fight for you, and you have only ^(M)to be silent.”

²¹ Then Moses ^(A)stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by ^(B)a strong east wind all night and ^(C)made the sea dry land, and the waters were ^(D)divided. ²² And ^(E)the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being ^(F)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^[a] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the ^(G)Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(H)“Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” ^27 (I)So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea ^(J)returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord ^(K)threw^[b] the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. ²⁸ The ^(L)waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, ^(M)not one of them remained. ²⁹ But the ^(N)people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰ Thus the Lord ^(O)saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ^31 (P)Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they ^(Q)believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.