Old/New Testament
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.[a] 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’.[b]
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.
Three disciples see how great Jesus is
17 Six days after that, Jesus asked Peter and the two brothers, James and John, to go with him. Jesus led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 Peter, James and John saw Jesus change in front of them. He became different to look at. His face was bright like the sun. His clothes became very white and they shone. 3 Then Moses and Elijah appeared in front of the three disciples.[a][b] They were talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good that we are here. If you want, please let me build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses and one hut will be for Elijah.’[c]
5 While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud appeared. It covered them all. A voice spoke from the cloud and it said, ‘This is my Son and I love him. He makes me very happy. Listen to him.’
6 The disciples heard the voice. They threw themselves down to the ground. They were very frightened. 7 But Jesus came to them and he touched them. ‘Stand up,’ he said. ‘Do not be afraid.’ 8 When they looked up, they could not see anyone else. Only Jesus was there with them.
9 While they were walking down the mountain, Jesus said to the three disciples, ‘You must not tell anyone now about the things that you have just seen. One day, the Son of Man will die and then he will become alive again. Then you can tell people about these things.’
10 Then the three disciples said to Jesus, ‘The teachers of God's Law say that God's prophet Elijah must return first, before the Messiah comes. Why do they say this?’
11 Jesus replied, ‘Yes, Elijah does come first. He gets everything ready. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come. People did not recognize him. They did to him all the things that they wanted to do. In the same way, they will also give me, the Son of Man, great pain.’ 13 Then the disciples understood that he was really talking about John the Baptist.
Jesus makes a boy well
14 Then Jesus, and the three disciples reached the place where the crowd was. A man came to Jesus. He went down on his knees in front of him. 15 He said to Jesus, ‘Please sir, be kind to my son. He cannot control his body. Sometimes he does not know what he is doing. Often he falls into the fire, or he falls into water. 16 I brought the boy to your disciples, but they could not make him well.’
17 Jesus replied, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. You have turned away from him. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you.’ Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Bring the boy here to me.’ 18 Jesus said to the bad spirit, ‘Stop!’ Then the bad spirit left the boy and immediately he became well again.
19 When the disciples were alone with Jesus, they asked him, ‘Why could we not make the bad spirit leave the boy?’
20 Jesus replied, ‘You could not do it because you do not trust God very much. I tell you this: You may believe in God only a little bit, like a very small seed. Even then, you could say to this mountain, “Go away from this place and move to that other place.” Then it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you to do.’[d] [21 Jesus then said, ‘This kind of spirit will not leave a person unless you pray and you do not eat for a time.’][e]
22 When Jesus and his disciples all met together in Galilee, he said, ‘Soon they will deliver the Son of Man to powerful people. 23 They will kill him. But three days after that, he will become alive again.’ When the disciples heard that, they were very sad.
24 After that, Jesus and his disciples arrived at Capernaum. Some men who received taxes for the temple went to talk to Peter. They asked him, ‘Does your teacher pay the tax for the temple?’[f]
25 Peter answered them, ‘Yes, my teacher does pay the tax.’
Then Peter returned to the house where Jesus was staying. Before Peter could say anything, Jesus spoke to him first. He said, ‘Here is a question for you to answer, Simon. Who are the people who must pay taxes and money to the kings in this world? Do the rulers take taxes from their own people? Or do they take taxes from other people?’
26 ‘They take the taxes from other people,’ Peter replied.
Jesus said to him, ‘This means that people from the ruler's own country do not need to pay anything.[g] 27 But we do not want to make these men who take the tax angry. So go to the lake and throw out a line to catch fish. Pull up the first fish that you catch on your line. Open the mouth of the fish and you will find a coin inside it. Take the coin and give it to those who receive taxes for the temple. This will be enough money for both my tax and yours.’
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