⁷ Then the Lord said, ^(A)“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ^(B)taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and ^(C)I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and ^(D)to bring them up out of that land to a ^(E)good and broad land, a land ^(F)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(G)the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

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.