Beginning
Consecration of the Firstborn
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, the firstborn of every womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast. It is Mine.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place. Nothing leavened shall be eaten. 4 On this day, you are going out, in the month of Aviv. 5 It shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this ceremony in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And there shall be no leavened bread seen among you, nor shall there be leaven seen among you in all your borders. 8 You shall declare to your son on that day, saying, ‘This is done because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’ 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial on your forehead, in order that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall, therefore, keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.
The Law of the Firstborn
11 “It shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, just as He swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it you, 12 that you shall set apart to the Lord the first offspring of every womb and the first offspring of every beast which you have. The males shall be the Lord’s. 13 But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck, and all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
14 “It shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘With a strong hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. 15 And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets on your forehead, for with a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
The Route of the Exodus
17 Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them through the way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearby. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt.” 18 Therefore, God led the people around, through the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up prepared for war out of the land of Egypt.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely attend to you, and you shall carry my bones away from here with you.”
20 They took their journey from Sukkoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. 22 He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
Crossing the Red Sea
14 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the children of Israel, so that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. Opposite it you shall camp by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, “They are confused in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.” 4 So I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he shall pursue them. And I will be honored because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, so that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.
5 When it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled, the heart of Pharaoh and of 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 made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 7 And he took six hundred select chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and officers over every one of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel. However, the children of Israel went out with confidence. 9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
10 When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and indeed, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they were extremely terrified, so the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this the word that we spoke to 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 to die in the wilderness.”
13 But Moses said to the people, “Fear not! Stand firm! And see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord shall fight for you, while you hold your peace.”
15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel, so that they go forward. 16 And as for you, lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it; then the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 As for Me, surely, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, so that they shall follow them, and I will be honored through Pharaoh, through all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud moved before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and there was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night. Therefore, the one did not come near the other the entire night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, so that the waters were divided. 22 The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
23 Then the Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud and threw the camp of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He removed their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty, and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal place when the morning appeared, while the Egyptians fled against it, so the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as one of them.
29 But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. And the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great power which the Lord used upon the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.
A Song of Moses
15 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and spoke, saying:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for He has triumphed gloriously!
He has thrown the horse and his rider
into the sea!
2 The Lord is my strength and song,
and He has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise Him;
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
3 The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is His name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
He has thrown into the sea;
his chosen captains also
are drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The depths have covered them;
they sank to the bottom like a stone.
6 “Your right hand, O Lord,
is glorious in power.
Your right hand, O Lord,
shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of Your excellence,
You overthrow those who rise up against You.
You send out Your wrath;
it consumes them like stubble.
8 With the blast of Your nostrils
the waters were gathered together.
The flowing waters stood upright as a heap;
and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 “The enemy said,
‘I will pursue. I will overtake.
I will divide the spoil;
my lust shall be satisfied upon them.
I will draw my sword,
my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with Your wind,
and the sea covered them;
they sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like You,
glorious in holiness,
fearful in praises,
doing wonders?
12 You stretched out Your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them.
13 “In Your mercy You have led
the people whom You have redeemed;
You have guided them by Your strength
to Your holy dwelling.
14 The peoples have heard and are afraid;
sorrow has taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom were amazed;
the mighty men of Moab, trembling takes hold of them;
all the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
16 Fear and dread fall upon them;
by the greatness of Your arm
they are as still as a stone,
until Your people pass over, O Lord,
until the people whom You have purchased pass over.
17 You shall bring them in, and plant them
on the mountain of Your inheritance,
in the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling,
in the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign
forever and ever.”
19 For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea.
The Song of Miriam
20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. 21 Miriam answered them,
“Sing to the Lord,
for He triumphed gloriously!
The horse and his rider
He has hurled into the sea.”
The Waters of Marah and Elim
22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Wilderness of Shur, and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. 24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he had thrown it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.
There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them. 26 He said, “If you diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will not afflict you with any of the diseases with which I have afflicted the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.