Bible in 90 Days

Israel Oppressed

1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, which came into Egypt (each man and his household came with Jacob): ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ All the people who came from the seed of Jacob were seventy people, but Joseph was in Egypt already.

⁶ Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. ⁷ Nevertheless, the sons of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty,^[a] so that the land was filled with them.

⁸ Now there rose up a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “Surely, the people of the sons of Israel are more numerous and powerful than we. ¹⁰ Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that when any war breaks out, they also join our enemies, and fight against us, and escape from the land.”

¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their labor. They built for Pharaoh storage cities: Pithom and Rameses. ¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew so that as a result they abhorred the sons of Israel. ¹³ The Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor, ¹⁴ and they made their lives bitter with hard service—in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

¹⁵ The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, ¹⁶ and he said, “When you perform the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the stools, if it is a son, then you must kill him, but if it is a daughter, then she may live.” ¹⁷ However, the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but kept the male children alive. ¹⁸ The king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and preserved the male children’s lives?”

¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives come to them.”

²⁰ Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. ²¹ So it happened that because the midwives feared God, He gave them families.

²² Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “You must cast every son that is born into the river, and you must preserve every daughter’s life.”

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a man of the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. ² And the woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw him, that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. ³ When she could no longer hide him, she took for him a container made of bulrushes and daubed it with tar and with pitch. She then put the child in it and set it in the reeds by the river’s bank. ⁴ Then his sister stood afar off so that she might know what would happen to him.

⁵ The daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river while her maidens walked along by the river’s side, and when she saw the container among the reeds, she sent her maid, and she retrieved it. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying. She had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call for you a nursing woman of the Hebrew women so that she may nurse the child for you?”

⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the young girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ Now the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

¹¹ In those days, when Moses was grown, he went out to his brothers and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. ¹² He looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ When he went out the next day, two men of the Hebrews struggled with each other; and he said to him that did the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?”

¹⁴ He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹⁵ Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he dwelled by a well. ¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Then shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

¹⁸ When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “Why is it you have come back so soon today?”

¹⁹ And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and also drew water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰ He said to his daughters, “So where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him so that he may eat bread.”

²¹ Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Zipporah, his daughter, to Moses. ²² Then she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

²³ In the passing of time the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out, and their cry came up to God on account of the bondage. ²⁴ God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ God looked on the children of Israel, and God had concern for them.

Moses at the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ² The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. ³ So Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him from out of the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses.”

And he said, “Here am I.”

⁵ He said, “Do not approach here. Remove your sandals from off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ⁸ Therefore, I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now therefore, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me. Moreover, I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

¹² And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this will be a sign to you, that I have sent you: When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, all of you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ Moses said to God, “I am going to the children of Israel and will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ When they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,”^[b] and He said, “You will say this to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

¹⁵ God, moreover, said to Moses, “Thus you will say to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’

¹⁶ “Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ Therefore, I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

¹⁸ “They shall listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you must say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Therefore, now, let us go, we ask you, three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ However, I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even under a forceful hand. ²⁰ So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will perform in its midst, and after that he will let you go.

²¹ “I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will come to pass, that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed. ²² But every woman will borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourns in her house, articles of silver, and articles of gold, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons, and on your daughters—in this way you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Moses’ Miraculous Signs

4 And Moses answered and said, “But they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice. For they will say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

And he said, “A rod.”

³ He said, “Throw it on the ground.”

And he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent. Then Moses fled from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put forth your hand and take it by the tail.” And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand. ⁵ “This is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶ The Lord said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, his hand was as leprous as snow.

⁷ He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again and brought it out of his bosom, and it was restored like his other flesh.

⁸ “If they will not believe you, nor listen to the voice of the first sign, then they may believe the voice of the latter sign. ⁹ But if they will not believe also these two signs or listen to your voice, then you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land, and the water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant. But I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”

¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who made the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you must say.”

¹³ He said, “O my Lord, send, I pray, by the hand of whomever else You will send.”

¹⁴ The anger of the Lord was inflamed against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he comes out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you must do. ¹⁶ What’s more, he will be your spokesman to the people, and he will be as a mouth for you, and you will be as God to him. ¹⁷ You must take this rod in your hand, with which you will perform the signs.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive.”

And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men are dead who sought your life.” ²⁰ Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you go to return into Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart, so that he shall not let the people go. ²² You shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is My son, even My firstborn. ²³ So I say to you, “Let My son go, that he may serve Me. And if you refuse to let him go, I will slay your son, even your firstborn.” ’ ”

²⁴ At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met him and sought to kill him. ²⁵ Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, and said, “Surely a bloody husband are you to me.” ²⁶ So He let him go. Then she said, “A bloody husband you are, because of the circumcision.”

²⁷ Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went, and met him at the mount of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.

²⁹ Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ³⁰ And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ And the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, they bowed down and worshipped.

Bricks Without Straw

5 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

² And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

³ They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go, we pray you, three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.” ⁵ Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land now are numerous, and you make them rest from their labor.”

⁶ Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷ “You shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ However, the quota of the bricks, which they were making previously, you shall lay upon them. You shall not diminish any of it. For they are idle. Therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let there be more work laid upon the men so that they may labor therein, and let them not regard deceptive words.”

¹⁰ The taskmasters of the people and their officers went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go, get straw where you can find it, yet nothing of your work shall be diminished.’ ” ¹² So the people scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The taskmasters pushed them, saying, “Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, just as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ The officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, and demanded, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as previously?”

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw being given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick.’ And indeed, your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷ But he said, “You are slackers! Slackers! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Go therefore now and work, for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall you deliver the quota of bricks.”

¹⁹ The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, after it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your bricks of your daily task.” ²⁰ Then they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh. ²¹ And they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made our scent stink in the estimation of Pharaoh and in the estimation of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.”

God Promises Deliverance

²² Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? Why is it that You have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.”

² Then God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am the Lord, ³ and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name, The Lord, I was not known to them. ⁴ I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they sojourned. ⁵ I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

⁶ “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with great judgments. ⁷ And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you into the land, which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for a heritage. I am the Lord.’ ”

⁹ Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage.

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

¹² Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, as I am of uncircumcised lips?”

¹³ And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command for the children of Israel, and for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses:

The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. These are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon.

¹⁶ These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni, and Shimei, according to their families.

¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three years.

¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.

These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ Now Amram married Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.

²² The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³ Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron’s son, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.

These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶ It was that Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” ²⁷ They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. It was that Moses and Aaron.

Aaron to Speak for Moses

²⁸ On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh the king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰ However, Moses said before the Lord, “Listen! I am unskilled in speech, so how will Pharaoh listen to me?”

7 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. ² You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ Nevertheless, Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that I may lay My hand upon Egypt and bring forth My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron did it. Just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Snake

⁸ Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and throw it before Pharaoh,’ and it shall become a serpent.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and they did what the Lord had commanded. And Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Then the magicians of Egypt likewise performed with their secret arts. ¹² For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³ Nonetheless, Pharaoh’s heart hardened so that he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Waters Turn to Blood

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You must take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand. ¹⁶ Then you are to say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness.” But up to this point you have not listened! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “In this you shall know that I am the Lord: Indeed, I will strike the waters of the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink so that the Egyptians shall be weary of drinking the river’s water.” ’ ”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, so that they may become blood. And there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.’ ”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. And he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river. Blood was everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.

²² Nevertheless, the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. ²³ Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not concern himself with this either. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug around about the river for water to drink, because they could not drink of the water of the river.

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ² But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your borders with frogs. ³ And the river will swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. ⁴ So the frogs shall come upon you, upon your people, and upon all your servants.’ ”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”

⁶ Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ The magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord, that He may take away the frogs from me, and from my people, and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “Glory yourself over me: When shall I entreat for you, your servants, and your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only?”

¹⁰ And he said, “Tomorrow.”

Then he said, “Be it according to your word, in order that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹² Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³ Then the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, the villages, and the fields. ¹⁴ So they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷ They did so, for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and smote the dust of the earth, and it became gnats on man and on beast. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ Then the magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not, so there were gnats upon man and beast.

¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” Nevertheless, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰ So the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes forth to the water and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ²¹ Otherwise, if you will not let My people go, indeed I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground wherever they are.

²² “ ‘I will in that day set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. ²³ I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.’ ”

²⁴ The Lord did so, and great swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

²⁵ Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

²⁶ Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for what we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God would be an abomination to the Egyptians. If we shall sacrifice what is an abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and then we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He shall command us.”

²⁸ Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness. Only you shall not go very far away. Make entreaty for me.”

²⁹ Moses said, “Indeed, I am leaving you, and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. But let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

³⁰ Moses went away from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. ³¹ Then the Lord did according to the word of Moses, and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. ³² Nevertheless, Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, nor would he let the people go.

The Fifth Plague: Livestock Die

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ² For if you refuse to let them go and continue holding them, ³ indeed, the hand of the Lord will be upon your livestock which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the donkeys, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep. There shall be a very grievous pestilence. ⁴ The Lord shall separate between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.’ ”

⁵ So the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.” ⁶ Then the Lord did this thing the next day, so that all the livestock of Egypt died, but not one of the livestock of the children of Israel died. ⁷ Pharaoh sent, and there was not one of the livestock of the children of Israel dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a kiln, and let Moses toss it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and shall be a boil breaking forth with blisters upon man and beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰ So they took the ashes from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh. Then Moses tossed it up toward the heavens, and it became a boil breaking forth with blisters upon man and beast. ¹¹ The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. ¹² Moreover, the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so that he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ¹⁴ For I will at this time send all My plagues upon you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For by now I could have stretched out My hand, so that I might strike you and your people with pestilence, and you would be cut off from the earth. ¹⁶ But, indeed, for this cause I have raised you up, in order to show in you My power and so that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. ¹⁷ Still, you exalt yourself against My people by forbidding them to go. ¹⁸ Certainly, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very severe hail, such as has not happened in Egypt since it was founded until now. ¹⁹ Send therefore now and bring your livestock and all that you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast which shall be found in the field and not brought home when the hail comes down upon them will die.’ ”

²⁰ He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses. ²¹ But he that failed to regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²² So the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” ²³ Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along upon the ground. So the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴ So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail. It was so severe that there had been none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ The hail struck all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast, and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. ²⁸ Entreat the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s mighty thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

²⁹ Moses said to him, “As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder shall cease, and there shall no longer be any more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. ³⁰ But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”

³¹ Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud. ³² But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they grow up later.

³³ So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was no longer poured upon the earth. ³⁴ However, when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. ³⁵ The heart of Pharaoh hardened, and he would not let the children of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might show these signs of Mine before him, ² in order that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

³ Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ⁴ For if you refuse to let My people go, indeed, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. ⁵ And they shall cover the face of the earth, such that no one will be able to see the earth. What’s more, they shall eat the remainder of that which has escaped—that which remains to you from the hail—and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. ⁶ And they shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers, nor your fathers’ fathers have seen since the day that they were on the earth until this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷ Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! But who are the ones that shall go?”

⁹ And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds will we go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

¹⁰ Then he said to them, “The Lord indeed be with you when I let you and your little ones go. Beware, for evil is before you. ¹¹ Not so! Go now, you that are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desire.” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up upon the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.”

¹³ So Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt; then the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. And when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory of Egypt. They were very grievous. Never before had there been such locusts as they, nor would there be such ever again. ¹⁵ For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. As a result, nothing green remained there in the trees or herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste and said, “I have sinned against the Lord, your God, and against you. ¹⁷ Now therefore please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, so that He may take away from me this death only.”

¹⁸ So he went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts and threw them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness which may be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched forth his hand toward the heavens, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

²⁴ Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even let your little ones also go with you.”

²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. ²⁶ Our livestock will go with us also. Not a hoof will be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God. And we do not know with what we must serve the Lord, until we get there.”

²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. ²⁸ So Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Watch yourself, do not see my face anymore; for in the day you see my face you shall die.”

²⁹ Then Moses said, “As you wish. I will never see your face again.”

Warning of the Final Plague

11 Now the Lord said to Moses, “I will still bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt. Afterwards he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he shall surely thrust you out from here altogether. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” ³ Then the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.

⁴ Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill, as well as all the firstborn of beasts. ⁶ Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor shall ever be again. ⁷ But against any of the children of Israel a dog will not even move his tongue, against man or beast, in order that you may know how that the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸ Then all these your servants shall come down to me and bow themselves to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh shall not listen to you so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover Instituted^(A)

12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: ² This month shall be the beginning of months to you. It shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a household. ⁴ And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to what each man shall eat, divide the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats. ⁶ You shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. ⁷ They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses in which they shall eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs and its entrails. ¹⁰ And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, but that of it which remains until the morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹ In this way shall you eat it: with your waist girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood shall be to you for a sign on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ This day shall be a memorial to you, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an eternal ordinance. ¹⁵ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which every man must eat—that only may be prepared for you.

¹⁷ You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For on this very day I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever. ¹⁸ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Draw out and take for yourselves a lamb according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. ²² You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morning. ²³ For the Lord will pass through to kill the Egyptians. And when He sees the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not permit the destroyer to come to your houses to kill you.

²⁴ “And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. ²⁵ When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, according as He has promised, that you shall observe this service. ²⁶ And when your children shall say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our households.’ ” And the people bowed down and worshipped. ²⁸ Then the children of Israel went and did so. Just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

²⁹ At midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of livestock. ³⁰ Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not someone dead.

The Exodus

³¹ Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, and get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. ³² Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also.”

³³ The Egyptians urged the people, so that they might send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We all will be dead.” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. ³⁵ Now the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they requested of the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing. ³⁶ And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they gave them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude also went up with them along with flocks and herds, a large amount of livestock. ³⁹ They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened because they were driven out of Egypt and could not linger, nor had they prepared for themselves any food.

⁴⁰ Now the sojourning of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. ⁴¹ And at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on the very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It is a night to be observed to the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night for the Lord to be observed by all the children of Israel in their generations.

The Ordinance of Passover

⁴³ So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the ordinance of the Passover:

No foreigner may eat of it. ⁴⁴ But every man’s servant bought with money, when you have circumcised him, may eat it. ⁴⁵ A foreigner or a hired servant shall not eat it.

⁴⁶ In one house shall it be eaten. You shall not carry any of the flesh outside of the house, nor shall you break a bone of it. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

⁴⁸ Now when a stranger sojourns with you and keeps the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it. And he shall be as one that is born in the land. However, no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ The same law shall apply to him that is a native and to the stranger who sojourns among you.

⁵⁰ So all the children of Israel did it. They did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And that same day the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

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: