Side by side
Exodus 14
Our retelling next to the Bible text it comes from. Each row lines up one scene with the verses it retells.
Scene 2: Pharaoh Changes His MindVerses 1 to 9
God told the Israelites to turn back and camp by the sea. God said Pharaoh would think they were lost in the desert. God would harden Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh would chase them. To harden someone's heart means to make that person stubborn. Then the Egyptians would know that God is the LORD.
Back in Egypt, Pharaoh was told that the people had left. He and his officials changed their minds. "What have we done?" they said (14:5). They had let their slaves go.
Pharaoh got his chariot ready. Chariots are war wagons pulled by horses. He took 600 of his best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt. His whole army went with him.
The LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh chased the Israelites. His horses, chariots, and soldiers caught up with them at their camp by the sea.
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.
Scene 3: Trapped at the SeaVerses 10 to 14
The Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptian army coming. The sea was in front of them. The army was behind them. They were terrified, and they cried out to the LORD.
Then they blamed Moses. "Were there no graves in Egypt?" they asked him. They meant that Moses had brought them into the desert to die. "What have you done to us?" they asked. They said it would have been better to stay slaves in Egypt than to die in the desert.
Moses said, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD's salvation" (14:13). Salvation means rescue.
"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still" (14:14).
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.”
Scene 4: The Cloud MovesVerses 15 to 20
God said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward" (14:15).
God told Moses to lift up his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea. The sea would split. The Israelites would walk through on dry ground.
God said he would harden the Egyptians' hearts. Then the Egyptians would follow the Israelites into the sea. And the Egyptians would know that he is the LORD.
Then the angel of God, who had been leading the camp, moved behind the Israelites. The pillar of cloud moved too. The cloud stood between the Egyptians and the Israelites.
The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. All night long, the two camps did not come near each other.
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.
Scene 5: A Path Through the WaterVerses 21 to 25
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. All night, the LORD pushed the sea back with a strong east wind. The water split apart. The sea floor became dry land.
The Israelites walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground. There was a wall of water on their right and on their left.
The Egyptian army followed them into the sea. All of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and riders went in.
The last hours of the night were called the morning watch. At that time, the LORD looked down on the army from the pillar of fire and cloud. He threw the Egyptians into confusion. He made their chariot wheels wobble, so they could hardly drive.
The Egyptians shouted, "Let's get away from the Israelites. The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."
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!”
Scene 6: The Water Comes BackVerses 26 to 31
God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea again.
Moses did. At sunrise, the water flowed back. The Egyptians tried to get away. But the LORD swept them into the sea.
The water covered the chariots and the riders. It covered the whole army that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground.
That day the LORD saved Israel from the Egyptians. Israel saw the Egyptian soldiers dead on the shore.
The people saw the great power of the LORD. They feared the LORD, and they believed in him and in his servant Moses. Here, fear means deep respect and awe.
Moses had said, "Stand firm and you will see the LORD's salvation." Now they had seen it.
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.
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