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A Passover Song

114 (A)When the people of Israel left Egypt,
    when Jacob's descendants left that foreign land,
Judah became the Lord's holy people,
    Israel became his own possession.

(B)The Red Sea looked and ran away;
    the Jordan River stopped flowing.
The mountains skipped like goats;
    the hills jumped around like lambs.

What happened, Sea, to make you run away?
    And you, O Jordan, why did you stop flowing?
You mountains, why did you skip like goats?
    You hills, why did you jump around like lambs?

Tremble, earth, at the Lord's coming,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
(C)who changes rocks into pools of water
    and solid cliffs into flowing springs.

Psalm 114

God’s Wonders at the Exodus

[a]When Israel went out from Egypt,
    the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,(A)
Judah became God’s[b] sanctuary,
    Israel his dominion.(B)

The sea looked and fled;
    Jordan turned back.(C)
The mountains skipped like rams,
    the hills like lambs.(D)

Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
    O Jordan, that you turn back?
O mountains, that you skip like rams?
    O hills, like lambs?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,(E)
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
    the flint into a spring of water.(F)

Footnotes

  1. 114.1 Psalms 114–115 are a single psalm in the earliest witnesses
  2. 114.2 Heb his

114 When Isra’el came out of Egypt,
the house of Ya‘akov from a people of foreign speech,
Y’hudah became [God’s] sanctuary,
Isra’el his domain.

The sea saw this and fled;
the Yarden turned back;
the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like young sheep.

Why is it, sea, that you flee?
Why, Yarden, do you turn back?
Why, mountains, do you skip like rams;
and you hills like young sheep?

Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Ya‘akov,
who turned the rock into a pool of water,
flint into flowing spring.

114 1-8 After Israel left Egypt,
    the clan of Jacob left those barbarians behind;
Judah became holy land for him,
    Israel the place of holy rule.
Sea took one look and ran the other way;
    River Jordan turned around and ran off.
The mountains turned playful and skipped like rams,
    the hills frolicked like spring lambs.
What’s wrong with you, Sea, that you ran away?
    and you, River Jordan, that you turned and ran off?
And mountains, why did you skip like rams?
    and you, hills, frolic like spring lambs?
Tremble, Earth! You’re in the Lord’s presence!
    in the presence of Jacob’s God.
He turned the rock into a pool of cool water,
    turned flint into fresh spring water.

Psalm 114

When Israel came out of Egypt,(A)
    Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
Judah(B) became God’s sanctuary,(C)
    Israel his dominion.

The sea looked and fled,(D)
    the Jordan turned back;(E)
the mountains leaped(F) like rams,
    the hills like lambs.

Why was it, sea, that you fled?(G)
    Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
    you hills, like lambs?

Tremble, earth,(H) at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool,
    the hard rock into springs of water.(I)