Exodus 14

14 ¹ Then our Father said to Moses,

² "Tell the children of Israel to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to camp by the sea, opposite Baal-zephon. ³ Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are wandering in confusion in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.' ⁴ And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will gain glory over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians will know that I am the Father." And they did so. ¹ 1 v4 When Scripture says our Father hardened Pharaoh's heart, it names his judgment on a king who had already hardened his own heart against him; Paul wrestles with this same mystery in Romans 9.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials turned against the people, and they said, "What have we done, letting Israel go from serving us?" ⁶ So he harnessed his chariot and took his people with him. ⁷ He took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. ⁸ Our Father hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel as they marched out boldly. ⁹ The Egyptians pursued them—all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, his horsemen and his army—and overtook them camped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ As Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified, and the children of Israel cried out to our Father. ¹¹ They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Isn't this what we told you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve them than to die in the wilderness."

¹³ But Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and see the salvation our Father will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ Our Father will fight for you; you need only to be still."

The Father Opens the Sea

¹⁵ Then our Father said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the children of Israel to move forward. ¹⁶ Lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, so the children of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ And I—I am about to harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will follow them in; and I will gain glory over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the Father, when I gain glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."

¹⁹ Then the messenger of our Father, who had been going ahead of Israel's camp, moved behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them, ²⁰ coming between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, yet it lit up the night, so that neither came near the other all night long.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night our Father drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, ²² and the children of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the waters a wall to them on their right and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians chased them into the middle of the sea—all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴ Just before dawn, our Father looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian army into confusion. ²⁵ He clogged their chariot wheels so they drove with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the Sovereign Father is fighting for them against Egypt!"

²⁶ Then our Father said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so the waters will flow back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and horsemen."

²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its full depth. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and our Father swept the Egyptians into the middle of the sea. ²⁸ The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them survived.

²⁹ But the children of Israel walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea, the waters a wall to them on their right and on their left. ³⁰ That day our Father saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. ³¹ When Israel saw the great power our Father had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared him, and they put their trust in him and in his servant Moses.