Beginning
Firstborn sons
13 The Lord spoke to Moses. 2 He said, ‘Keep every firstborn male separate and special for me. Every male who is the first to be born of his mother is mine. He is mine, whether he is man or animal.’[a]
3 Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day, the day when you came out of Egypt. You left the place where you were slaves. The Lord brought you out with his powerful authority. Remember! Do not eat anything that has yeast in it on this day. 4 Today you are leaving Egypt. It is the first month of the year, called Abib. 5 The Lord will bring you to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. God promised your ancestors that he would give that land to you. The land will give you plenty of good food and drink, enough for everyone. When the Lord brings you into that place, you must eat the Passover meal to worship God in this month every year. 6 For seven days you must eat bread without yeast in it. Then on the seventh day you must have a festival for the Lord. 7 Eat bread without yeast during those seven days. There must not be any yeast left among you, in the whole of your land.
8 On that day, you must tell your children the reason for this festival. Tell them, “We do this because of what the Lord did for us. He brought us out of Egypt.” 9 This special time will be like a mark on your hand. It will be like something that you fix between your eyes. It will be a sign that causes you to remember what happened on this day. Then you will not forget to speak about the Law of the Lord. Remember this: The Lord brought you out of Egypt with his great power. 10 Every year, at the right time you must do what I have said.
11 The Lord will bring you into the land of the Canaanites. It is the land that he promised to give to you and to your ancestors. When he gives it to you, you must do this: 12 You must give to the Lord all the firstborn males. That includes your own firstborn sons, and the male animals that are born first. They belong to the Lord. 13 When a donkey gives birth to her first male, you must give a lamb to God, instead of the donkey. If you do not do that, you must kill the donkey. You must break its neck. For any of your own firstborn sons, you must give an animal instead of your son.
14 One day, your son may ask you, “What does this mean?” Then you must say to him, “The Lord brought us out of Egypt with his powerful authority. He took us away from the place where we were slaves. 15 Pharaoh refused to let us go. But the Lord killed all the firstborn sons in the country of Egypt. He killed all the firstborn males, both people and animals. That is why I offer all the firstborn male animals as a sacrifice to the Lord. But for each of my firstborn sons, I give an animal to God instead.” 16 It will be like a mark on your hand or something that you fix between your eyes. It will be a sign that causes you to remember what happened. You will remember that the Lord used his great power to bring us out of Egypt.’
The Israelites cross the Red Sea
17 When Pharaoh let the people go away, God did not lead them through the country of the Philistines. This was a short way for them to go, but God did not lead them that way. God said, ‘If the people have to fight a war, they may change their minds. Then they may return to Egypt.’ 18 So God led the people round by the desert road. They went towards the Red Sea. When the Israelites came out of the country of Egypt, they were ready to fight.
19 Moses took Joseph's bones with him. Joseph had made the Israelites promise to do this. He had said, ‘One day, God will come and he will save you. Then you must carry my bones with you when you leave this place.’[b]
20 The Israelites travelled from Succoth and they arrived at Etham. They put up their tents there, on the edge of the desert. 21 As they travelled, the Lord was leading them. During the day, he was there as a pillar of cloud that went in front of them. During the night, he went as a pillar of fire. This gave them light, so they could travel during the day or the night. 22 The cloud did not leave the people during the day. Nor did the fire leave them during the night. It was always in front of them.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Tell the Israelites that they must turn round. They must go and stay near Pi-Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You must put up your tents beside the sea, across from Baal Zephon. 3 Then Pharaoh will think, “The Israelites are confused. They do not know where they are going. The desert has stopped them.” 4 Then I will cause Pharaoh's mind to become hard again. He will go to catch the Israelites. I will show how great I am when I win against Pharaoh and his whole army. Because of this, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.’
The Israelites did what God said.
5 Someone told the king of Egypt that the Israelites had run away. Then Pharaoh and his officers changed their minds about the Israelites. They said, ‘We have done a foolish thing. We have let the Israelites go. We have lost our slaves!’
6 So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and he took his army with him. 7 He took 600 of his best chariots with him., as well as all the other chariots of Egypt. All the chariots had officers to drive them. 8 The Lord caused the mind of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to be hard. So Pharaoh followed after the Israelites, when they left Egypt without any fear.
9 The Egyptian soldiers followed after the Israelites to catch them. They went with all Pharaoh's horses, chariots and officers. The Egyptian army reached the place where the Israelites had put up their tents. That was beside the sea, near Pi-Hahiroth, across from Baal Zephon.
10 When Pharaoh came nearer, the Israelites looked up. They saw that the Egyptian army had followed them. The Israelites became very afraid. They called loudly to the Lord to help them. 11 They said to Moses, ‘Why have you brought us here, to die in the desert? Surely there were enough places in Egypt to bury dead people! You should never have brought us out of Egypt! 12 We said to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone. Let us work for the Egyptians.” It would have been better for us to be their slaves than to die here in the desert!’
13 Then Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid! Be brave! You will see how the Lord will save you today. Look at the Egyptians over there. You will never see them again! 14 The Lord will fight for you. You will only have to watch.’
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not continue to call to me for help! Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 You yourself must do this: Lift up your stick and hold your hand out over the sea. The water will become two separate parts. Then the Israelites can cross through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 17 This is what I, the Lord, will do: I will cause the minds of the Egyptians to become hard. They will follow the Israelites into the sea to catch them. I will show how great I am when I win against Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, his horses and their riders. 18 When I do that, the Egyptians will know that I really am the Lord. They will know that I am great.’
19 The angel of God had been leading the army of the Israelites. Now he moved and he went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved and it stood behind the army. 20 It stood between the Egyptian army and the Israelite army. During the whole night, the Egyptians were in the dark, because of the cloud. But the cloud gave light to the Israelites. So the two armies did not come near to each other during the whole night.
21 Then Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. During that whole night, the Lord made a strong wind blow from the east. This caused the sea to become two separate parts. The ground between the water became dry land. 22 So the Israelites walked on the dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.
23 The Egyptians followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea to catch them. All Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and their riders did this. 24 Just before dawn, the Lord looked down from the pillar of cloud with fire in it. He saw the Egyptian army and he made them become confused. 25 He stopped the wheels of their chariots, so that the Egyptians could not drive them properly. So the Egyptians said, ‘Let us run away from the Israelite army! It is the Lord who fights for them against Egypt.’
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the water will return back. The sea will cover the Egyptians, their chariots, their horses and their riders.’ 27 So Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. At dawn, the sea returned to its proper place. The Egyptians tried to run away from the water, but the Lord made them drown in the middle of the sea.
28 The water returned to its proper place. It covered all of Pharaoh's army that had followed the Israelites into the sea. It covered all the chariots, the horses and their riders. Not one of Pharaoh's soldiers was still alive! 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side. 30 On that day, the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptian army. The Israelites saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians, which lay on the shore.
31 The Israelites saw the great power that the Lord had used against the Egyptians. As a result, they respected the Lord and his power. They trusted the Lord to help them, and they also trusted Moses, his servant.
The song of Moses
15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to praise the Lord:
‘I will sing to the Lord, because he has shown his great power.
He threw horses and their riders into the sea.
2 The Lord makes me strong. He is the reason for my song.
He is the one who has saved me.
He is my God and I will praise him.
He is my father's God and I will praise his name.
3 The Lord is like a brave soldier.
The Lord is his name.
4 He threw Pharaoh's chariots and his army into the sea.
Pharaoh's best officers drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The deep waters have covered them.
They fell to the floor of the sea, like a stone.
6 Your right hand, Lord, was great and powerful.
Your right hand, Lord, destroyed the enemy.
7 With your powerful authority, you killed your enemies.
You were very angry with them.
You killed them, like a fire burns dry grass.
8 You blew on the water and it became like a wall.
The deep waters stood up in a big heap.
9 The enemy said, “We will go after them. We will catch them.
We will destroy them with our swords.
We will do whatever we want to them.
We will take all their valuable things for ourselves.”
10 But Lord, you blew on the waters
so that the sea covered your enemies.
They went down like heavy metal in the great waters.
11 Lord, there is nobody like you among all the gods!
There is nobody like you anywhere!
You are great and holy.
Everyone should respect you and praise you.
You do great miracles.
There is nobody like you!
12 You lifted up your right hand.
A big hole opened in the ground and our enemies fell into it.
13 You have promised to love your people.
So you have saved them and you lead them.
With your strength, you show them the way to your holy home.
14 The people of other nations will hear what you have done.
They will be very afraid.
The people who live in Philistia will shake with fear.
15 The rulers of Edom will be afraid.
The leaders of Moab will shake with fear.
The people who live in Canaan will become weak.
16 They will all be afraid.
Because of your great power they will want to run away.
But they cannot move!
They will remain still, like stones, until your people go on past them.
They will stand and watch as the people you have saved, Lord, pass by.
17 You will bring your people in safely.
You will bring them to live on your own mountain.
Lord, that is the place that you have prepared for your home.
It is the holy place that you have built, Lord.
18 The Lord will rule as king for ever!
19 Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his soldiers went into the sea.
Then the Lord made the waters of the sea come back over them.
But the Israelites walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground.’
20 Then Miriam, Aaron's sister, who was a prophet, took a tambourine in her hand.[c] All the other women followed her, with tambourines in their hands. They danced while Miriam sang to them.
21 This is the song that she sang:
‘Sing to the Lord, because he has shown his great power.
He threw horses and their riders into the sea.’
The waters of Marah and Elim
22 Then Moses led the Israelites away from the Red Sea. They travelled into the desert called Shur. They walked into the desert for three days and they could not find any water to drink. 23 Then they arrived at Marah. But they could not drink the water there because it was too bitter. That is why they called that place ‘Marah’.[d]
24 Then the people complained. They spoke against Moses. They said, ‘There is nothing for us to drink!’
25 Then Moses called to the Lord for help. The Lord showed Moses a special tree. Moses threw a branch into the water. Then the water became good for them to drink.
There at Marah, the Lord made a law for the Israelites to obey. He tested them there, to see if they would trust him. 26 He said, ‘Be careful to listen to what the Lord your God says to you. Let him see that you are doing things that are right. Obey his commands and his rules. Then I will not give to you the diseases that I gave to the Egyptians. I am the Lord. I am the one who gives you health.’
27 Then the Israelites arrived at Elim. There they found 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees. The Israelites put up their tents there, where there was water.
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