Exodus 1:1-15:21

1 These are the names of the Israelites who came to Egypt with Jacob along with their households: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ The total number in Jacob’s family was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶ Eventually, Joseph, his brothers, and everyone in his generation died. ⁷ But the Israelites were fertile and became populous. They multiplied and grew dramatically, filling the whole land.

Israel is oppressed

⁸ Now a new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “The Israelite people are now larger in number and stronger than we are. ¹⁰ Come on, let’s be smart and deal with them. Otherwise, they will only grow in number. And if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land.” ¹¹ As a result, the Egyptians put foremen of forced work gangs over the Israelites to harass them with hard work. They had to build storage cities named Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they grew and spread, so much so that the Egyptians started to look at the Israelites with disgust and dread. ¹³ So the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. ¹⁴ They made their lives miserable with hard labor, making mortar and bricks, doing field work, and by forcing them to do all kinds of other cruel work.

¹⁵ The king of Egypt spoke to two Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah: ¹⁶ “When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth and you see the baby being born, if it’s a boy, kill him. But if it’s a girl, you can let her live.” ¹⁷ Now the two midwives respected God so they didn’t obey the Egyptian king’s order. Instead, they let the baby boys live.

¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called the two midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”

¹⁹ The two midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because Hebrew women aren’t like Egyptian women. They’re much stronger and give birth before any midwives can get to them.” ²⁰ So God treated the midwives well, and the people kept on multiplying and became very strong. ²¹ And because the midwives respected God, God gave them households of their own.

²² Then Pharaoh gave an order to all his people: “Throw every baby boy born to the Hebrews into the Nile River, but you can let all the girls live.”

Moses’ birth

2 Now a man from Levi’s household married a Levite woman. ² The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that the baby was healthy and beautiful, so she hid him for three months. ³ When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she took a reed basket and sealed it up with black tar. She put the child in the basket and set the basket among the reeds at the riverbank. ⁴ The baby’s older sister stood watch nearby to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, while her women servants walked along beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds, and she sent one of her servants to bring it to her. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child. The boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children.”

⁷ Then the baby’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Would you like me to go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, “Yes, do that.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I’ll pay you for your work.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. ¹⁰ After the child had grown up, she brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I pulled him out of the water.”

Moses runs away to Midian

¹¹ One day after Moses had become an adult, he went out among his people and he saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² He looked around to make sure no one else was there. Then he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

¹³ When Moses went out the next day, he saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. Moses said to the one who had started the fight, “Why are you abusing your fellow Hebrew?”

¹⁴ He replied, “Who made you a boss or judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses was afraid when he realized: They obviously know what I did. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard about it, he tried to kill Moses.

But Moses ran away from Pharaoh and settled down in the land of Midian. One day Moses was sitting by a well. ¹⁶ Now there was a Midianite priest who had seven daughters. The daughters came to draw water and fill the troughs so that their father’s flock could drink. ¹⁷ But some shepherds came along and rudely chased them away. Moses got up, rescued the women, and gave their flock water to drink.

¹⁸ When they went back home to their father Reuel, he asked, “How were you able to come back home so soon today?”

¹⁹ They replied, “An Egyptian man rescued us from a bunch of shepherds. Afterward, he even helped us draw water to let the flock drink.”

²⁰ Reuel said to his daughters, “So where is he? Why did you leave this man? Invite him to eat a meal with us.”

²¹ Moses agreed to come and live with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. ²² She gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, “because,” he said, “I’ve been an immigrant living in a foreign land.”

²³ A long time passed, and the Egyptian king died. The Israelites were still groaning because of their hard work. They cried out, and their cry to be rescued from the hard work rose up to God. ²⁴ God heard their cry of grief, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ God looked at the Israelites, and God understood.

Moses at the burning bush

3 Moses was taking care of the flock for his father-in-law Jethro, Midian’s priest. He led his flock out to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s mountain called Horeb. ² The Lord’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was in flames, but it didn’t burn up. ³ Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn’t burning up.

⁴ When the Lord saw that he was coming to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

Moses said, “I’m here.”

⁵ Then the Lord said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” ⁶ He continued, “I am the God of your father, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, “I’ve clearly seen my people oppressed in Egypt. I’ve heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters. I know about their pain. ⁸ I’ve come down to rescue them from the Egyptians in order to take them out of that land and bring them to a good and broad land, a land that’s full of milk and honey, a place where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites all live. ⁹ Now the Israelites’ cries of injustice have reached me. I’ve seen just how much the Egyptians have oppressed them. ¹⁰ So get going. I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² God said, “I’ll be with you. And this will show you that I’m the one who sent you. After you bring the people out of Egypt, you will come back here and worship God on this mountain.”

God’s special name

¹³ But Moses said to God, “If I now come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they are going to ask me, ‘What’s this God’s name?’ What am I supposed to say to them?”

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. So say to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God continued, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how all generations will remember me.

¹⁶ “Go and get Israel’s elders together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me. The Lord said, “I’ve been paying close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ I’ve decided to take you away from the harassment in Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land full of milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ They will accept what you say to them. Then you and Israel’s elders will go to Egypt’s king and say to him, ‘The Lord, the Hebrews’ God, has met with us. So now let us go on a three-day journey into the desert so that we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ However, I know that Egypt’s king won’t let you go unless he’s forced to do it. ²⁰ So I’ll use my strength and hit Egypt with dramatic displays of my power. After that, he’ll let you go.

²¹ “I’ll make it so that when you leave Egypt, the Egyptians will be kind to you and you won’t go away empty-handed. ²² Every woman will ask her neighbor along with the immigrant in her household for their silver and their gold jewelry as well as their clothing. Then you will put it on your sons and daughters, and you will rob the Egyptians.”

Signs of power

4 Then Moses replied, “But what if they don’t believe me or pay attention to me? They might say to me, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you!’”

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

Moses replied, “A shepherd’s rod.”

³ The Lord said, “Throw it down on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and it turned into a snake. Moses jumped back from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out and grab the snake by the tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a rod in his hand. ⁵ “Do this so that they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God has in fact appeared to you.”

⁶ Again, the Lord said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took his hand out, his hand had a skin disease flaky like snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand back inside his coat. When he took it back out again, the skin of his hand had returned to normal. ⁸ “If they won’t believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second sign. ⁹ If they won’t believe even these two signs or pay attention to you, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on dry ground. The water that you take from the Nile will turn into blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “My Lord, I’ve never been able to speak well, not yesterday, not the day before, and certainly not now since you’ve been talking to your servant. I have a slow mouth and a thick tongue.”

¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives people the ability to speak? Who’s responsible for making them unable to speak or hard of hearing, sighted or blind? Isn’t it I, the Lord? ¹² Now go! I’ll help you speak, and I’ll teach you what you should say.”

¹³ But Moses said, “Please, my Lord, just send someone else.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord got angry at Moses and said, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak very well. He’s on his way out to meet you now, and he’s looking forward to seeing you. ¹⁵ Speak to him and tell him what he’s supposed to say. I’ll help both of you speak, and I’ll teach both of you what to do. ¹⁶ Aaron will speak for you to the people. He’ll be a spokesperson for you, and you will be like God for him. ¹⁷ Take this shepherd’s rod with you too so that you can do the signs.”

Moses goes back to Egypt

¹⁸ Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to my family in Egypt and see whether or not they are still living.”

Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt because everyone there who wanted to kill you has died.” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his children, put them on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. Moses also carried the shepherd’s rod from God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure that you appear before Pharaoh and do all the amazing acts that I’ve given you the power to do. But I’ll make him stubborn so that he won’t let the people go. ²² Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my oldest son. ²³ I said to you, “Let my son go so he could worship me.” But you refused to let him go. As a result, now I’m going to kill your oldest son.’”

²⁴ During their journey, as they camped overnight, the Lord met Moses and tried to kill him. ²⁵ But Zipporah took a sharp-edged flint stone and cut off her son’s foreskin. Then she touched Moses’ genitals with it, and she said, “You are my bridegroom because of bloodshed.” ²⁶ So the Lord let him alone. At that time, she announced, “A bridegroom because of bloodshed by circumcision.”

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” So he went, and Aaron met him at God’s mountain and greeted him with a kiss. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron what the Lord had said about his mission and all the signs that the Lord had told him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron called together all the Israelite elders. ³⁰ Aaron told them everything that the Lord had told to Moses, and he performed the signs in front of the people. ³¹ The people believed. When they heard that the Lord had paid attention to the Israelites and had seen their oppression, they bowed down and worshipped.

First meeting with Pharaoh

5 Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: ‘Let my people go so that they can hold a festival for me in the desert.’”

² But Pharaoh said, “Who is this Lord whom I’m supposed to obey by letting Israel go? I don’t know this Lord, and I certainly won’t let Israel go.”

³ Then they said, “The Hebrews’ God has appeared to us. Let us go on a three-day journey into the desert so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. Otherwise, the Lord will give us a deadly disease or violence.”

⁴ The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you making the people slack off from their work? Do the hard work yourselves!” ⁵ Pharaoh continued, “The land’s people are now numerous. Yet you want them to stop their hard work?”

⁶ On the very same day Pharaoh commanded the people’s slave masters and supervisors, ⁷ “Don’t supply the people with the straw they need to make bricks like you did before. Let them go out and gather the straw for themselves. ⁸ But still make sure that they produce the same number of bricks as they made before. Don’t reduce the number! They are weak and lazy, and that’s why they cry, ‘Let’s go and offer sacrifices to our God.’ ⁹ Make the men’s work so hard that it’s all they can do, and they can’t focus on these empty lies.”

¹⁰ So the people’s slave masters and supervisors came out and spoke to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says, ‘I’m not giving you straw anymore. ¹¹ Go and get the straw on your own, wherever you can find it. But your work won’t be reduced at all.’” ¹² So the people spread out all through the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The slave masters drove them hard and said, “Make sure you make the same daily quota as when you had the straw.” ¹⁴ The Israelite supervisors, whom Pharaoh’s slave masters had set over them, were also beaten and asked, “Why didn’t you produce the same number of bricks yesterday and today as you did before?”

¹⁵ Then the Israelite supervisors came and pleaded to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶ No straw is supplied to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look at how your servants are being beaten! Your own people are to blame!”

¹⁷ Pharaoh replied, “You are lazy bums, nothing but lazy bums. That’s why you say, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Go and get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you still need to make the same number of bricks.”

¹⁹ The Israelite supervisors saw how impossible their situation was when they were commanded, “Don’t reduce your daily quota of bricks.” ²⁰ When they left Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them. ²¹ The supervisors said to them, “Let the Lord see and judge what you’ve done! You’ve made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and his servants. You’ve given them a reason to kill us.”

²² Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “My Lord, why have you abused this people? Why did you send me for this? ²³ Ever since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has abused this people. And you’ve done absolutely nothing to rescue your people.”

God reassures Moses

6 The Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I’ll do to Pharaoh. In fact, he’ll be so eager to let them go that he’ll drive them out of his land by force.”

² God also said to Moses: “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I didn’t reveal myself to them by my name ‘The Lord.’ ⁴ I also set up my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan where they lived as immigrants. ⁵ I’ve also heard the cry of grief of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have turned into slaves, and I’ve remembered my covenant. ⁶ Therefore, say to the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I’ll bring you out from Egyptian forced labor. I’ll rescue you from your slavery to them. I’ll set you free with great power and with momentous events of justice. ⁷ I’ll take you as my people, and I’ll be your God. You will know that I, the Lord, am your God, who has freed you from Egyptian forced labor. ⁸ I’ll bring you into the land that I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I’ll give it to you as your possession. I am the Lord.’” ⁹ Moses told this to the Israelites. But they didn’t listen to Moses, because of their complete exhaustion and their hard labor.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go and tell Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, to let the Israelites out of his land.”

¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “The Israelites haven’t even listened to me. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen to me, especially since I’m not a very good speaker?” ¹³ Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, giving them orders to let the Israelites go from the land of Egypt.

Family line of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These were the leaders of their households.

The descendants of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

These were Reuben’s clans. ¹⁵ The Simeonites: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, a Canaanite woman’s son. These were Simeon’s clans.

¹⁶ These were the Levites’ names by their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. ¹⁷ The Gershonites: Libni and Shimei and their clans. ¹⁸ The Kohathites: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. ¹⁹ The Merarites: Mahli and Mushi. These were the Levite clans by their generations.

²⁰ Amram married Jochebed, his father’s sister. She gave birth to Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. ²¹ The Izharites: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² The Uzzielites: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron married Elisheba, Amminadab’s daughter and Nahshon’s sister. She gave birth to Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴ The Korahites: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans. ²⁵ Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of Putiel’s daughters. She gave birth to Phinehas. These were the leaders of Levite households by their clans.

²⁶ It was this same Aaron and Moses whom the Lord commanded, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt in military formation.” ²⁷ It was also this same Moses and Aaron who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

²⁸ At the time the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, everything that I’ve said to you.”

³⁰ But Moses replied to the Lord, “Look, I’m not a very good speaker. How is Pharaoh ever going to listen to me?”

7 The Lord said to Moses, “See, I’ve made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ² You will say everything that I command you, and your brother Aaron will tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites out of his land. ³ But I’ll make Pharaoh stubborn, and I’ll perform many of my signs and amazing acts in the land of Egypt. ⁴ When Pharaoh refuses to listen to you, then I’ll act against Egypt and I’ll bring my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt in military formation by momentous events of justice. ⁵ The Egyptians will come to know that I am the Lord, when I act against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.” ⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Turning rods into snakes

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do one of your amazing acts,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your shepherd’s rod and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will turn into a cobra.’”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw down his shepherd’s rod in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it turned into a cobra. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh called together his wise men and wizards, and Egypt’s religious experts did the same thing by using their secret knowledge. ¹² Each one threw down his rod, and they turned into cobras. But then Aaron’s rod swallowed up each of their rods. ¹³ However, Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Water into blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh is stubborn. He still refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning. As he is going out to the water, make sure you stand at the bank of the Nile River so you will run into him. Bring along the shepherd’s rod that turned into a snake. ¹⁶ Say to him, The Lord, the Hebrews’ God, has sent me to you with this message: Let my people go so that they can worship me in the desert. Up to now you still haven’t listened. ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord. I’m now going to hit the water of the Nile River with this rod in my hand, and it will turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the Nile are going to die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians won’t be able to drink water from the Nile.” ¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your shepherd’s rod and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters—over their rivers, their canals, their marshes, and all their bodies of water—so that they turn into blood. There will be blood all over the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.’”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. He raised the shepherd’s rod and hit the water in the Nile in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. ²¹ The fish in the Nile died, and the Nile began to stink so that the Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the Nile. There was blood all over the land of Egypt. ²² But the Egyptian religious experts did the same thing with their secret knowledge. As a result, Pharaoh remained stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Pharaoh turned and went back to his palace. He wasn’t impressed even by this. ²⁴ Meanwhile, all the Egyptians had to dig for drinking water along the banks of the Nile River, because they couldn’t drink the water of the Nile itself. ²⁵ Seven days went by after the Lord had struck the Nile River.

Invasion of frogs

8  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. ² If you refuse to let them go, then I’ll send a plague of frogs over your whole country. ³ The Nile will overflow with frogs. They’ll get into your palace, into your bedroom and onto your bed, into your officials’ houses, and among all your people, and even into your ovens and bread pans. ⁴ The frogs will crawl up on you, your people, and all your officials.” ⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your shepherd’s rod over the rivers, the canals, and the marshes, and make the frogs crawl up all over the land of Egypt.’” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs crawled up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ However, the Egyptian religious experts were able to do the same thing by their secret knowledge. They too made frogs crawl up onto the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “If you pray to the Lord to get rid of the frogs from me and my people, then I’ll let the people go so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “Have it your way. When should I pray for you and your officials and your people to remove the frogs from your houses, courtyards, and fields? They’ll stay only in the Nile.”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow!”

Moses said, “Just as you say! That way you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officials, and your people. They’ll stay only in the Nile.” ¹² After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs that the Lord had brought on Pharaoh. ¹³ The Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died inside the houses, out in the yards, and in the fields. ¹⁴ They gathered them together in big piles, and the land began to stink. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that the disaster was over, he became stubborn again and wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Swarming lice

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your shepherd’s rod and hit the land’s dirt so that lice appear in the whole land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ They did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his shepherd’s rod, hit the land’s dirt, and lice appeared on both people and animals. All the land’s dirt turned into lice throughout the whole land of Egypt.

¹⁸ The religious experts tried to produce lice by their secret knowledge, but they weren’t able to do it. There were lice on people and animals. ¹⁹ The religious experts said to Pharaoh, “This is something only God could do!” But Pharaoh was stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Insects fill Egypt

²⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes out to the water. Say to him, This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. ²¹ If you refuse to let my people go, I’ll send swarms of insects on you, your officials, your people, and your houses. All Egyptian houses will be filled with swarms of insects and also the ground that they cover. ²² But on that day I’ll set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live. No swarms of insects will come there so you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³ I’ll put a barrier between my people and your people. This sign will happen tomorrow.” ²⁴ The Lord did this. Great swarms of insects came into the houses of Pharaoh and his officials and into the whole land of Egypt. The land was ruined by the insects.

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called in Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, offer sacrifices to your God within the land.”

²⁶ Moses replied, “It wouldn’t be right to do that, because the sacrifices that we offer to the Lord our God will offend Egyptians. If we openly offer sacrifices that offend Egyptians, won’t they stone us to death? ²⁷ We need to go for a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God as he has ordered us.”

²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I’ll let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, provided you don’t go too far away and you pray for me.”

²⁹ Moses said, “I’ll leave you now, and I’ll pray to the Lord. Tomorrow the swarms of insects will leave Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Just don’t let Pharaoh lie to us again and not let the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ³¹ The Lord did as Moses asked and removed the swarms of insects from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people. Not one insect remained. ³² But Pharaoh was stubborn once again, and he wouldn’t let the people go.

Animals sick and dying

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, This is what the Lord, the Hebrews’ God, says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. ² If you refuse to let them go and you continue to hold them back, ³ the Lord will send a very deadly disease on your livestock in the field: on horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, and flocks. ⁴ But the Lord will distinguish Israel’s livestock from Egypt’s livestock so that not one that belongs to the Israelites will die.” ⁵ The Lord set a time and said, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” ⁶ And the next day the Lord did it. All of the Egyptian livestock died, but not one animal that belonged to the Israelites died. ⁷ Pharaoh asked around and found out that not one of Israel’s livestock had died. But Pharaoh was stubborn, and he wouldn’t let the people go.

Skin sores and blisters

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of ashes from a furnace and have Moses throw it up in the air in front of Pharaoh. ⁹ The ashes will turn to soot over the whole land of Egypt. It will cause skin sores that will break out in blisters on people and animals in the whole land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So they took ashes from the furnace, and they stood in front of Pharaoh. Moses threw the ash up in the air, and it caused skin sores and blisters to break out on people and animals. ¹¹ The religious experts couldn’t stand up to Moses because of the skin sores, because there were skin sores on the religious experts as well as on all the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, and Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had said to Moses.

Hail and thunder

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh. Say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. ¹⁴ This time I’m going to send all my plagues on you, your officials, and your people so that you will know that there is no one like me in the whole world. ¹⁵ By now I could have used my power to strike you and your people with a deadly disease so that you would have disappeared from the earth. ¹⁶ But I’ve left you standing for this reason: in order to show you my power and in order to make my name known in the whole world. ¹⁷ You are still abusing your power against my people, and you refuse to let them go. ¹⁸ Tomorrow at this time I’ll cause the heaviest hail to fall on Egypt that has ever fallen from the day Egypt was founded until now. ¹⁹ So bring under shelter your livestock and all that belongs to you that is out in the open. Every person or animal that is out in the open field and isn’t brought inside will die when the hail rains down on them.” ²⁰ Some of Pharaoh’s officials who took the Lord’s word seriously rushed to bring their servants and livestock inside for shelter. ²¹ Others who didn’t take the Lord’s word to heart left their servants and livestock out in the open field.

²² The Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall on the whole land of Egypt, on people and animals and all the grain in the fields in the land of Egypt.” ²³ Then Moses raised his shepherd’s rod toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. The Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴ The hail and the lightning flashing in the middle of the hail were so severe that there had been nothing like it in the entire land of Egypt since it first became a nation. ²⁵ The hail beat down everything that was in the open field throughout the entire land of Egypt, both people and animals. The hail also beat down all the grain in the fields, and it shattered every tree out in the field. ²⁶ The only place where hail didn’t fall was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I’ve sinned. The Lord is right, and I and my people are wrong. ²⁸ Pray to the Lord! Enough of God’s thunder and hail! I’m going to let you go. You don’t need to stay here any longer.”

²⁹ Moses said to him, “As soon as I’ve left the city, I’ll spread out my hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and the hail will stop and won’t return so that you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ³⁰ But I know that you and your officials still don’t take the Lord God seriously.” (³¹ Now the flax and the barley were destroyed, because the barley had ears of grain and the flax had buds. ³² But both durum and spelt wheat weren’t ruined, because they hadn’t come up.) ³³ Moses left Pharaoh and the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and the hail stopped, and the rain stopped pouring down on the earth. ³⁴ But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. Pharaoh and his officials became stubborn. ³⁵ Because of his stubbornness, Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had told Moses.

Invasion of locusts

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. I’ve made him and his officials stubborn so that I can show them my signs ² and so that you can tell your children and grandchildren how I overpowered the Egyptians with the signs I did among them. You will know that I am the Lord.”

³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the Hebrews’ God, says: How long will you refuse to respect me? Let my people go so that they can worship me. ⁴ Otherwise, if you refuse to let my people go, I’m going to bring locusts into your country tomorrow. ⁵ They will cover the landscape so that you won’t be able to see the ground. They will eat the last bit of vegetation that was left after the hail. They will eat all your trees growing in the fields. ⁶ The locusts will fill your houses and all your officials’ houses and all the Egyptians’ houses. Your parents and even your grandparents have never seen anything like it during their entire lifetimes in this fertile land.” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.

⁷ Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man trap us in a corner like this? Let the people go so that they can worship the Lord their God. Don’t you get it? Egypt is being destroyed!”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go! Worship the Lord your God! But who exactly is going with you?”

⁹ Moses said, “We’ll go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we all must observe the Lord’s festival.”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said to them, “Yes, the Lord will be with you, all right, especially if I let your children go with you! Obviously, you are plotting some evil scheme. ¹¹ No way! Only your men can go and worship the Lord, because that’s what you asked for.” Then Pharaoh had them chased out of his presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses: “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt so that the locusts will swarm over the land of Egypt and eat all of the land’s grain and everything that the hail left.” ¹³ So Moses stretched out his shepherd’s rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow over the land all that day and all that night. When morning came, the east wind had carried in the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt and settled on the whole country. Such a huge swarming of locusts had never happened before and would never happen ever again. ¹⁵ They covered the whole landscape so that the land turned black with them. They ate all of the land’s grain and all of the orchards’ fruit that the hail had left. Nothing green was left in any orchard or in any grain field in the whole land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Pharaoh called urgently for Moses and Aaron and said, “I’ve sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Please forgive my sin this time. Pray to the Lord your God just to take this deathly disaster away from me.”

¹⁸ So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ The Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind that lifted the locusts and drove them into the Reed Sea. Not a single locust was left in the whole country of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn so that he wouldn’t let the Israelites go.

Darkness covers Egypt

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over the land of Egypt, a darkness that you can feel.” ²² So Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and an intense darkness fell on the whole land of Egypt for three days. ²³ People couldn’t see each other, and they couldn’t go anywhere for three days. But the Israelites all had light where they lived.

²⁴ Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go! Worship the Lord! Only your flocks and herds need to stay behind. Even your children can go with you.”

²⁵ But Moses said, “You need to let us have sacrifices and entirely burned offerings to present to the Lord our God. ²⁶ So our livestock must go with us. Not one animal can be left behind. We’ll need some of them for worshipping the Lord our God. We won’t know which to use to worship the Lord until we get there.”

²⁷ But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn so that he wasn’t willing to let them go. ²⁸ Pharaoh said to him, “Get out of here! Make sure you never see my face again, because the next time you see my face you will die.”

²⁹ Moses said, “You’ve said it! I’ll never see your face again!”

God announces the final disaster

11 The Lord said to Moses, “I’ll bring one more disaster on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he’ll let you go from here. In fact, when he lets you go, he’ll eagerly chase you out of here. ² Tell every man to ask his neighbor and every woman to ask her neighbor for all their silver and gold jewelry.” ³ The Lord made sure that the Egyptians were kind to the Hebrew people. In addition, Pharaoh’s officials and the Egyptian people even came to honor Moses as a great and important man in the land.

⁴ Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: At midnight I’ll go throughout Egypt. ⁵ Every oldest child in the land of Egypt will die, from the oldest child of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the oldest child of the servant woman by the millstones, and all the first offspring of the animals. ⁶ Then a terrible cry of agony will echo through the whole land of Egypt unlike any heard before or that ever will be again. ⁷ But as for the Israelites, not even a dog will growl at them, at the people, or at their animals. By this, you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. ⁸ Then all your officials will come down to me, bow to me, and say, ‘Get out, you and all your followers!’ After that I’ll leave.” Then Moses, furious, left Pharaoh.

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you so that I can perform even more amazing acts in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Now Moses and Aaron did all these amazing acts in front of Pharaoh, but the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn so that he didn’t let the Israelites go from his land.

First Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ² “This month will be the first month; it will be the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell the whole Israelite community: On the tenth day of this month they must take a lamb for each household, a lamb per house. ⁴ If a household is too small for a lamb, it should share one with a neighbor nearby. You should divide the lamb in proportion to the number of people who will be eating it. ⁵ Your lamb should be a flawless year-old male. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ You should keep close watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month. At twilight on that day, the whole assembled Israelite community should slaughter their lambs. ⁷ They should take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the beam over the door of the houses in which they are eating. ⁸ That same night they should eat the meat roasted over the fire. They should eat it along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over fire with its head, legs, and internal organs. ¹⁰ Don’t let any of it remain until morning, and burn any of it left over in the morning. ¹¹ This is how you should eat it. You should be dressed, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. You should eat the meal in a hurry. It is the Passover of the Lord. ¹² I’ll pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I’ll strike down every oldest child in the land of Egypt, both humans and animals. I’ll impose judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be your sign on the houses where you live. Whenever I see the blood, I’ll pass over you. No plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “This day will be a day of remembering for you. You will observe it as a festival to the Lord. You will observe it in every generation as a regulation for all time. ¹⁵ You will eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses because anyone who eats leavened bread anytime during those seven days will be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ The first day and the seventh day will be a holy occasion for you. No work at all should be done on those days, except for preparing the food that everyone is going to eat. That is the only work you may do. ¹⁷ You should observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because on this precise day I brought you out of the land of Egypt in military formation. You should observe this day in every generation as a regulation for all time. ¹⁸ In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you should eat unleavened bread. ¹⁹ For seven days no yeast should be found in your houses because whoever eats leavened bread will be cut off from the Israelite community, whether the person is an immigrant or a native of the land. ²⁰ You should not eat anything made with yeast in all your settlements. You should eat only unleavened bread.”

²¹ Then Moses called together all of Israel’s elders and said to them, “Go pick out one of the flock for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood that is in the bowl, and touch the beam above the door and the two doorposts with the blood in the bowl. None of you should go out the door of your house until morning. ²³ When the Lord comes by to strike down the Egyptians and sees the blood on the beam above the door and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door. He won’t let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you down. ²⁴ You should observe this ritual as a regulation for all time for you and your children. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the Lord has promised to give you, be sure that you observe this ritual. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ ²⁷ you will say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for the Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. When he struck down the Egyptians, he spared our houses.’” The people then bowed down and worshipped. ²⁸ The Israelites went and did exactly what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron to do.

Death of Egypt’s oldest children

²⁹ At midnight the Lord struck down all the first offspring in the land of Egypt, from the oldest child of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the oldest child of the prisoner in jail, and all the first offspring of the animals. ³⁰ When Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the Egyptians got up that night, a terrible cry of agony rang out across Egypt because every house had someone in it who had died. ³¹ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron that night and said, “Get up! Get away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go! Worship the Lord, as you said! ³² You can even take your flocks and herds, as you asked. Just go! And bring a blessing on me as well!”

Israel set free

³³ The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the land because they thought, We’ll all be dead. ³⁴ So the people picked up their bread dough before the yeast made it rise, with their bread pans wrapped in their robes on their shoulders. ³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for their silver and gold jewelry as well as their clothing. ³⁶ The Lord made sure that the Egyptians were kind to the people so that they let them have whatever they asked for. And so they robbed the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth. They numbered about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. ³⁸ A diverse crowd also went up with them along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ They baked unleavened cakes from the dough they had brought out of Egypt. The dough didn’t rise because they were driven out of Egypt and they couldn’t wait. In fact, they didn’t have time to prepare any food for themselves.

⁴⁰ The length of time that the Israelites had lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. ⁴¹ At the end of four hundred thirty years, on that precise day, all the Lord’s people in military formation left the land of Egypt. ⁴² For the Lord, that was a night of intent watching, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For all Israelites in every generation, this same night is a time of intent watching to honor the Lord.

Instructions for observing Passover

⁴³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the regulation for the Passover. No foreigner may eat it. ⁴⁴ However, any slave who has been bought may eat it after he’s been circumcised. ⁴⁵ No temporary foreign resident or day laborer may eat it. ⁴⁶ It should be eaten in one house. You shouldn’t take any of the meat outside the house, and you shouldn’t break the bones. ⁴⁷ The whole Israelite community should observe it. ⁴⁸ If an immigrant who lives with you wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, then he and all his males should be circumcised. Then he may join in observing it. He should be regarded as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it. ⁴⁹ There will be one Instruction for the native and for the immigrant who lives with you.

⁵⁰ All the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ On that precise day, the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt in military formation.

13 The Lord said to Moses: ² Dedicate to me all your oldest children. Each first offspring from any Israelite womb belongs to me, whether human or animal.

Unleavened bread

³ Moses said to the people, “Remember this day which is the day that you came out of Egypt, out of the place you were slaves, because the Lord acted with power to bring you out of there. No leavened bread may be eaten. ⁴ Today, in the month of Abib, you are going to leave. ⁵ The Lord will bring you to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. It is the land that the Lord promised your ancestors to give to you, a land full of milk and honey. You should perform this ritual in this month. ⁶ You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. The seventh day is a festival to the Lord. ⁷ Only unleavened bread should be eaten for seven days. No leavened bread and no yeast should be seen among you in your whole country. ⁸ You should explain to your child on that day, ‘It’s because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

⁹ “It will be a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead so that you will often discuss the Lord’s Instruction, for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with great power. ¹⁰ So you should follow this regulation at its appointed time every year.

Dedication of Israel’s oldest offspring

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you as promised to you and your ancestors, ¹² you should set aside for the Lord whatever comes out of the womb first. All of the first males born to your animal belong to the Lord. ¹³ But every first male donkey you should ransom with a sheep. If you don’t ransom it, you must break its neck. You should ransom every oldest male among your children. ¹⁴ When in the future your child asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you should answer, ‘The Lord brought us with great power out of Egypt, out of the place we were slaves. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the oldest offspring in the land of Egypt, from the oldest sons to the oldest male animals. That is why I offer to the Lord as a sacrifice every male that first comes out of the womb. But I ransom my oldest sons.’ ¹⁶ It will be a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with great power.”

God leads the way

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God didn’t lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though that was the shorter route. God thought, If the people have to fight and face war, they will run back to Egypt. ¹⁸ So God led the people by the roundabout way of the Reed Sea desert. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt ready for battle. ¹⁹ Moses took with him Joseph’s bones just as Joseph had made Israel’s sons promise when he said to them, “When God takes care of you, you must carry my bones out of here with you.” ²⁰ They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. ²¹ The Lord went in front of them during the day in a column of cloud to guide them and at night in a column of lightning to give them light. This way they could travel during the day and at night. ²² The column of cloud during the day and the column of lightning at night never left its place in front of the people.

Israel crossing the sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses: ² Tell the Israelites to turn back and set up camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea in front of Baal-zephon. You should set up camp in front of it by the sea. ³ Pharaoh will think to himself, The Israelites are lost and confused in the land. The desert has trapped them. ⁴ I’ll make Pharaoh stubborn, and he’ll chase them. I’ll gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. And they did exactly that.

⁵ When Egypt’s king was told that the people had run away, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people. They said, “What have we done, letting Israel go free from their slavery to us?” ⁶ So he sent for his chariot and took his army with him. ⁷ He took six hundred elite chariots and all of Egypt’s other chariots with captains on all of them. ⁸ The Lord made Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, stubborn, and he chased the Israelites, who were leaving confidently. ⁹ The Egyptians, including all of Pharaoh’s horse-drawn chariots, his cavalry, and his army, chased them and caught up with them as they were camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ As Pharaoh drew closer, the Israelites looked back and saw the Egyptians marching toward them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt like this? ¹² Didn’t we tell you the same thing in Egypt? ‘Leave us alone! Let us work for the Egyptians!’ It would have been better for us to work for the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”

¹³ But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground, and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never ever see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you. You just keep still.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to get moving. ¹⁶ As for you, lift your shepherd’s rod, stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two so that the Israelites can go into the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ But me, I’ll make the Egyptians stubborn so that they will go in after them, and I’ll gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh, all his army, his chariots, and his cavalry. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his cavalry.”

¹⁹ God’s messenger, who had been in front of Israel’s camp, moved and went behind them. The column of cloud moved from the front and took its place behind them. ²⁰ It stood between Egypt’s camp and Israel’s camp. The cloud remained there, and when darkness fell it lit up the night. They didn’t come near each other all night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord pushed the sea back by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. The waters were split into two. ²² The Israelites walked into the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians chased them and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry. ²⁴ As morning approached, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian camp from the column of lightning and cloud and threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. ²⁵ The Lord jammed their chariot wheels so that they wouldn’t turn easily. The Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites, because 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 water comes back and covers the Egyptians, their chariots, and their cavalry.” ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. At daybreak, the sea returned to its normal depth. The Egyptians were driving toward it, and the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the cavalry, Pharaoh’s entire army that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained. ²⁹ The Israelites, however, walked on dry ground through the sea. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰ The Lord rescued Israel from the Egyptians that day. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the amazing power of the Lord against the Egyptians. The people were in awe of the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Moses’ victory song

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

¹⁹ When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

Miriam’s victory song

²⁰ Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand. All the women followed her playing tambourines and dancing. ²¹ Miriam sang the refrain back to them: