Exodus 13–16

1Then the LORD said to Moses,

2“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”

3So Moses told the people, “Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for the LORD brought you out of it by the strength of His hand. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.

4Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving.

5And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you shall keep this service in this month.

6For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.

7Unleavened bread shall be eaten during those seven days. Nothing leavened may be found among you, nor shall leaven be found anywhere within your borders.

8And on that day you are to explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

9It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.

10Therefore you shall keep this statute at the appointed time year after year.

11And after the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as He swore to you and your fathers,

12you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.

13You must redeem every firstborn donkey with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. And every firstborn of your sons you must redeem.

14In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

15And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’

16So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

17When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

18So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle.

19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn oath when he said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from this place.”

20They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.

21And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.

22Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place before the people.

1Then the LORD said to Moses,

2“Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon.

3For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’

4And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.

5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”

6So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him.

7He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.

8And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.

9The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.

10As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD.

11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

12Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

13But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.

14The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

15Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.

16And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

17And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen.

18The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,

20so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other.

21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,

22and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.

23And the Egyptians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the sea.

24At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.

25He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”

26Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”

27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea.

28The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

29But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.

30That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore.

31When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.

1Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.

2The LORD is my strength and my 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.

3The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name.

4Pharaoh’s chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.

5The depths have covered them; they sank there like a stone.

6Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.

7You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble.

8At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

9The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’

10But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

11Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

12You stretched out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them up.

13With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.

14The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.

15Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,

16and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.

17You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance— the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.

18The LORD will reign forever and ever!”

19For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

20Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

21And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”

22Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water.

23And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)

24So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

25And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,

26saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

27Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.

1On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.

2And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

3“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”

4Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

5Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

6So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

7and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we, that you should grumble against us?”

8And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”

9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”

10And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.

11Then the LORD said to Moses,

12“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”

13That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

14When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.

15When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

16This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”

17So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less.

18When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.

19Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”

20But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

21Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

22On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person —and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.

23He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”

24So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.

25“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field.

26For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”

27Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.

28Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?

29Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.”

30So the people rested on the seventh day.

31Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

32Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

33So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”

34And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

35The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

36(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)