A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Exodus 14
Exodus 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the book of Exodus and the Red Sea crossing. The 31-verse chapter is the load-bearing chapter of the exodus narrative. Pharaoh and his army pursue the fleeing Israelites; the LORD divides the sea; the Israelites walk through on dry ground between walls of water; the sea closes back over the pursuing Egyptians.
The chapter opens with the LORD telling Moses to have the Israelites turn back and camp between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon. Pharaoh, the LORD says, will see this and think Israel is wandering in confusion. The LORD will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he pursues, and the Egyptians will know that the LORD is the LORD.
When the king of Egypt is told that the people have fled, Pharaoh and his officials change their minds. "What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us." Pharaoh prepares his chariot, takes 600 of his best chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, and pursues with his army.
The Egyptians overtake them by the sea. The Israelites cry out to the LORD and turn on Moses: better to have stayed in Egypt than to die in the wilderness.
Moses answers them with the words that will be quoted from this chapter forever: "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. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
The LORD then tells Moses to stop crying out and to move forward. Moses is to lift his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea. The angel of God and the pillar of cloud move from in front of the camp to behind it, settling between the two armies. Neither camp can reach the other through the night.
Moses stretches out his hand over the sea. All that night the LORD drives back the sea with a strong east wind and turns it to dry land. The waters are divided. The Israelites go through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
The Egyptians chase them in. At morning watch the LORD looks down from the pillar of fire and cloud, throws the Egyptian army into confusion, and causes their chariot wheels to wobble. The Egyptians say, "Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!"
The LORD tells Moses to stretch out his hand again. The sea returns to its normal state at daybreak. The Egyptians flee straight into it. The waters cover the chariots, the horsemen, and the entire army of Pharaoh. Not one of them survives.
The Israelites have walked through the sea on dry ground. That day the LORD saves Israel from the hand of the Egyptians. The chapter closes with Israel seeing the dead Egyptians on the shore. They fear the LORD and put their trust in him and in his servant Moses.
Verse 1. Then the LORD said to Moses,
Verse 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.
Verse 3. For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’
Verse 4. And 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.
Verse 5. When 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.”
Verse 6. So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him.
Verse 7. He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.
Verse 8. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.
Verse 9. The 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.
Verse 10. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD.
Verse 11. They 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?
Verse 12. Did 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.”
Verse 13. But 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.
Verse 14. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Verse 15. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
Verse 16. And 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.
Verse 17. And 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.
Verse 18. The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
Verse 19. And 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,
Verse 20. so 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.
Verse 21. Then 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,
Verse 22. and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
Verse 23. And the Egyptians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the sea.
Verse 24. At 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.
Verse 25. He 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!”
Verse 26. Then 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.”
Verse 27. So 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.
Verse 28. The 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.
Verse 29. But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
Verse 30. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore.
Verse 31. When 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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