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Exodus 14

1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel, so that they turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon. Opposite it you are to camp beside the sea. 3Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering in confusion in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4I will strengthen Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” So they did.

5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people. They said, “What have we done, letting Israel go from serving us?” 6He harnessed his chariot and took his people with him. 7He took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8Yahweh strengthened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the sons of Israel. The sons of Israel were going out with a raised hand. 9The Egyptians pursued them and overtook them camped beside the sea—all Pharaoh's chariot horses, his horsemen, and his army—beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.

10Pharaoh drew near, and the sons of Israel lifted their eyes: look, Egypt was marching after them! They were very afraid, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh. 11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12Is this not what we told you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone, so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and see Yahweh's deliverance, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. 14Yahweh will fight for you, and you are to be silent.”

15Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the sons of Israel, so that they set out. 16And you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, so that the sons of Israel may go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. 17And I, look, I am strengthening the hearts of the Egyptians, so that they go in after them. I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19The messenger of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. There were the cloud and the darkness, and it lit up the night. Neither approached the other all night. 21Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry ground, and the waters were split. 22The sons of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23The Egyptians pursued and went in after them—all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen—into the midst of the sea. 24During the morning watch Yahweh looked down on the camp of Egypt through the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the camp of Egypt into confusion. 25He removed their chariot wheels and made them move with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting for them against Egypt!”

26Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may return over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” 27Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal flow. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and Yahweh shook the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, all Pharaoh's army that had gone into the sea after them. Not even one of them remained. 29But the sons of Israel had walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left. 30That day Yahweh delivered Israel from the hand of Egypt. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31Israel saw the great hand that Yahweh had exercised against Egypt. The people feared Yahweh and trusted in Yahweh and in Moses his servant.

Translation notes 7

14:4, 8, 17 — Strengthen. These forms describe making firm in resistance, traditionally rendered harden. The text retains both divine agency and the Egyptians' pursuit without adding a philosophical explanation.

14:8, 31 — Raised and great hands. A raised hand pictures Israel's bold departure; the great hand pictures Yahweh's power. Both bodily images are retained.

14:19 — Messenger. The Hebrew word can denote a human or heavenly messenger, traditionally “angel” here. The narrative distinguishes this figure from the pillar in its wording without explaining their precise relationship.

14:20 — Cloud, darkness, and light. The Hebrew sequence is difficult: it names cloud and darkness and then says that it lit up the night. The translation retains that sequence without adding that one camp received darkness and the other light. The ancient Greek has a different night clause.

14:24 — Morning watch. A watch is a division of the night, here its final portion before daybreak; the text does not give an exact modern time.

14:25 — Chariot wheels. The Hebrew base describes removing or turning aside the wheels. The Samaritan Hebrew text compared has a verb meaning “bind,” also reflected in the ancient Greek; this supports “bound” or contextually “jammed.” The draft provisionally retains the base reading, followed by the statement that movement became difficult.

14:27–28 — Shaken into the sea. The Hebrew retains the image of shaking the Egyptians off into the sea. Its statement that none remained concerns the pursuing force described in verse 28; the translation does not add an independent statement about Pharaoh's personal fate.