10:1 1 The Lord said 2 to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display 3 these signs of mine before him, 4 10:2 and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell 5 how I made fools 6 of the Egyptians 7 and about 8 my signs that I displayed 9 among them, so that you may know 10 that I am the Lord.”
10:3 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long do you refuse 11 to humble yourself before me? 12 Release my people so that they may serve me! 10:4 But if you refuse to release my people, I am going to bring 13 locusts 14 into your territory 15 tomorrow. 10:5 They will cover 16 the surface 17 of the earth, so that you 18 will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped 19 – what is left over 20 for you – from the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows for you from the field. 10:6 They will fill your houses, the houses of your servants, and all the houses of Egypt, such as 21 neither 22 your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since they have been 23 in the land until this day!’” Then Moses 24 turned and went out from Pharaoh.
10:7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long 25 will this man be a menace 26 to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know 27 that Egypt is destroyed?”
10:8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Exactly who is going with you?” 28 10:9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and our cattle we will go, because we are to hold 29 a pilgrim feast for the Lord.”
10:10 He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you 30 if I release you and your dependents! 31 Watch out! 32 Trouble is right in front of you! 33 10:11 No! 34 Go, you men 35 only, and serve the Lord, for that 36 is what you want.” 37 Then Moses and Aaron 38 were driven 39 out of Pharaoh’s presence.
10:12 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for 40 the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat everything that grows 41 in the ground, everything that the hail has left.” 10:13 So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord 42 brought 43 an east wind on the land all that day and all night. 44 The morning came, 45 and the east wind had brought up 46 the locusts! 10:14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory 47 of Egypt. It was very severe; 48 there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again. 49 10:15 They covered 50 the surface 51 of all the ground, so that the ground became dark with them, 52 and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.
10:16 53 Then Pharaoh quickly 54 summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned 55 against the Lord your God and against you! 10:17 So now, forgive my sin this time only, and pray to the Lord your God that he would only 56 take this death 57 away from me.” 10:18 Moses 58 went out 59 from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 10:19 and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, 60 and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. 61 Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. 10:20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites.
10:21 62 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward heaven 63 so that there may be 64 darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick it can be felt.” 65
10:22 So Moses extended his hand toward heaven, and there was absolute darkness 66 throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 67 10:23 No one 68 could see 69 another person, and no one could rise from his place for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.
10:24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord – only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families 70 may go with you.”
10:25 But Moses said, “Will you also 71 provide us 72 with sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may present them 73 to the Lord our God? 10:26 Our livestock must 74 also go with us! Not a hoof is to be left behind! For we must take 75 these animals 76 to serve the Lord our God. Until we arrive there, we do not know what we must use to serve the Lord.” 77
10:27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to release them. 10:28 Pharaoh said to him, “Go from me! 78 Watch out for yourself! Do not appear before me again, 79 for when 80 you see my face you will die!” 10:29 Moses said, “As you wish! 81 I will not see your face again.” 82
11:1 83 The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will release you from this place. When he releases you, 84 he will drive you out completely 85 from this place. 11:2 Instruct 86 the people that each man and each woman is to request 87 from his or her neighbor 88 items of silver and gold.” 89
11:3 (Now the Lord granted the people favor with 90 the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s servants and by the Egyptian people.) 91
11:4 Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight 92 I will go throughout Egypt, 93 11:5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh 94 who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 11:6 There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, 95 nor ever will be again. 96 11:7 But against any of the Israelites not even a dog will bark 97 against either people or animals, 98 so that you may know that the Lord distinguishes 99 between Egypt and Israel.’ 11:8 All these your servants will come down to me and bow down 100 to me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow 101 you,’ and after that I will go out.” Then Moses 102 went out from Pharaoh in great anger.
11:9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders 103 may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
11:10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.
12:1 104 The Lord said 105 to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 106 12:2 “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year. 107 12:3 Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘In the tenth day of this month they each 108 must take a lamb 109 for themselves according to their families 110 – a lamb for each household. 111 12:4 If any household is too small 112 for a lamb, 113 the man 114 and his next-door neighbor 115 are to take 116 a lamb according to the number of people – you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat. 117 12:5 Your lamb must be 118 perfect, 119 a male, one year old; 120 you may take 121 it from the sheep or from the goats. 12:6 You must care for it 122 until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the whole community 123 of Israel will kill it around sundown. 124 12:7 They will take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and top of the doorframe of the houses where they will eat it. 12:8 They will eat the meat the same night; 125 they will eat it roasted over the fire with bread made without yeast 126 and with bitter herbs. 12:9 Do not eat it raw 127 or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails. 12:10 You must leave nothing until morning, but you must burn with fire whatever remains of it until morning. 12:11 This is how you are to eat it – dressed to travel, 128 your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 129
12:12 I will pass through 130 the land of Egypt in the same 131 night, and I will attack 132 all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals, 133 and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. 134 I am the Lord. 12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see 135 the blood I will pass over you, 136 and this plague 137 will not fall on you to destroy you 138 when I attack 139 the land of Egypt. 140
12:14 This day will become 141 a memorial 142 for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival 143 to the Lord – you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance. 144 12:15 For seven days 145 you must eat 146 bread made without yeast. 147 Surely 148 on the first day you must put away yeast from your houses because anyone who eats bread made with yeast 149 from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off 150 from Israel.
12:16 On the first day there will be a holy convocation, 151 and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind 152 on them, only what every person will eat – that alone may be prepared for you. 12:17 So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very 153 day I brought your regiments 154 out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance. 155 12:18 In the first month, 156 from the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you will eat bread made without yeast until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. 12:19 For seven days 157 yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast – that person 158 will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner 159 or one born in the land. 12:20 You will not eat anything made with yeast; in all the places where you live you must eat bread made without yeast.’”
12:21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select 160 for yourselves a lamb or young goat 161 for your families, and kill the Passover animals. 162 12:22 Take a branch of hyssop, 163 dip it in the blood that is in the basin, 164 and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out 165 the door of his house until morning. 12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees 166 the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer 167 to enter your houses to strike you. 168 12:24 You must observe this event as an ordinance for you and for your children forever. 12:25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he said, you must observe 169 this ceremony. 12:26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 170 – 12:27 then you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice 171 of the Lord’s Passover, when he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck 172 Egypt and delivered our households.’” The people bowed down low 173 to the ground, 12:28 and the Israelites went away and did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 174
12:29 175 It happened 176 at midnight – the Lord attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 12:30 Pharaoh got up 177 in the night, 178 along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house 179 in which there was not someone dead. 12:31 Pharaoh 180 summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out 181 from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord as you have requested! 182 12:32 Also, take your flocks and your herds, just as you have requested, and leave. But bless me also.” 183
12:33 The Egyptians were urging 184 the people on, in order to send them out of the land quickly, 185 for they were saying, “We are all dead!” 12:34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, 186 with their kneading troughs bound up in their clothing on their shoulders. 12:35 Now the Israelites had done 187 as Moses told them – they had requested from the Egyptians 188 silver and gold items and clothing. 12:36 The Lord 189 gave the people favor 190 in the sight of the Egyptians, and they gave them whatever they wanted, 191 and so they plundered Egypt. 192
12:37 The Israelites journeyed 193 from Rameses 194 to Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men 195 on foot, plus their dependants. 196 12:38 A mixed multitude 197 also went up with them, and flocks and herds – a very large number of cattle. 198 12:39 They baked cakes of bread without yeast using the dough they had brought from Egypt, for it was made without yeast – because they were thrust out 199 of Egypt and were not able to delay, they 200 could not prepare 201 food for themselves either.
12:40 Now the length of time the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. 202 12:41 At the end of the 430 years, on the very day, all the regiments 203 of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt. 12:42 It was a night of vigil for the Lord to bring them out from the land of Egypt, 204 and so 205 on this night all Israel is to keep the vigil 206 to the Lord for generations to come.
12:43 207 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner may 208 share in eating it. 209 12:44 But everyone’s servant who is bought for money, after you have circumcised him, may eat it. 12:45 A foreigner and a hired worker must not eat it. 12:46 It must be eaten in one house; you must not bring any of the meat outside the house, and you must not break a bone of it. 12:47 The whole community of Israel must observe it.
12:48 “When a foreigner lives 210 with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, all his males must be circumcised, 211 and then he may approach and observe it, and he will be like one who is born in the land 212 – but no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 12:49 The same law will apply 213 to the person who is native-born and to the foreigner who lives among you.”
12:50 So all the Israelites did exactly as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. 214 12:51 And on this very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.
13:1 215 The Lord spoke 216 to Moses: 13:2 “Set apart 217 to me every firstborn male – the first offspring of every womb 218 among the Israelites, whether human or animal; it is mine.” 219
13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember 220 this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, 221 for the Lord brought you out of there 222 with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten. 223 13:4 On this day, 224 in the month of Abib, 225 you are going out. 226
13:5 When 227 the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, 228 then you will keep 229 this ceremony 230 in this month. 13:6 For seven days 231 you must eat 232 bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there is to be 233 a festival to the Lord. 13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten 234 for seven days; 235 no bread made with yeast shall be seen 236 among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.
13:8 You are to tell your son 237 on that day, 238 ‘It is 239 because of what 240 the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 13:9 241 It 242 will be a sign 243 for you on your hand and a memorial 244 on your forehead, 245 so that the law of the Lord may be 246 in your mouth, 247 for 248 with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 13:10 So you must keep 249 this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year. 250
13:11 When the Lord brings you 251 into the land of the Canaanites, 252 as he swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it 253 to you, 13:12 then you must give over 254 to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. 255 Every firstling 256 of a beast that you have 257 – the males will be the Lord’s. 258 13:13 Every firstling 259 of a donkey you must redeem 260 with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, then you must break its neck. 261 Every firstborn of 262 your sons you must redeem.
13:14 263 In the future, 264 when your son asks you 265 ‘What is this?’ 266 you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand 267 the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery. 268 13:15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused 269 to release us, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of people to the firstborn of animals. 270 That is why I am sacrificing 271 to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb, but all my firstborn sons I redeem.’ 13:16 It will be for a sign on your hand and for frontlets 272 on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” 273
13:17 274 When Pharaoh released 275 the people, God did not lead them 276 by the way to the land 277 of the Philistines, 278 although 279 that was nearby, for God said, 280 “Lest 281 the people change their minds 282 and return to Egypt when they experience 283 war.” 13:18 So God brought the people around by the way of the desert to the Red Sea, 284 and the Israelites went up from the land of Egypt prepared for battle. 285
13:19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph 286 had made the Israelites solemnly swear, 287 “God will surely attend 288 to you, and you will carry 289 my bones up from this place with you.”
13:20 They journeyed from Sukkoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the desert. 13:21 Now the Lord was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, 290 so that they could 291 travel day or night. 292 13:22 He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. 293
14:1 294 The Lord spoke to Moses: 14:2 “Tell the Israelites that they must turn and camp 295 before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you are to camp by the sea before Baal Zephon opposite it. 296 14:3 Pharaoh will think 297 regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused 298 in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ 299 14:4 I will harden 300 Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them. I will gain honor 301 because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, and the Egyptians will know 302 that I am the Lord.” So this is what they did. 303
14:5 When it was reported 304 to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, 305 the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, 306 “What in the world have we done? 307 For we have released the people of Israel 308 from serving us!” 14:6 Then he prepared 309 his chariots and took his army 310 with him. 14:7 He took six hundred select 311 chariots, and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, 312 and officers 313 on all of them.
14:8 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he chased after the Israelites. Now the Israelites were going out defiantly. 314 14:9 The Egyptians chased after them, and all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-Zephon. 14:10 When 315 Pharaoh got closer, 316 the Israelites looked up, 317 and there were the Egyptians marching after them, 318 and they were terrified. 319 The Israelites cried out to the Lord, 320 14:11 and they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? 321 What in the world 322 have you done to us by bringing 323 us out of Egypt? 14:12 Isn’t this what we told you 324 in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, 325 because it is better for us to serve 326 the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’” 327
14:13 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! 328 Stand firm 329 and see 330 the salvation 331 of the Lord that he will provide 332 for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. 333 14:14 The Lord 334 will fight for you, and you can be still.” 335
14:15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 336 14:16 And as for you, 337 lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that 338 the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden 339 the hearts of the Egyptians so that 340 they will come after them, that I may be honored 341 because 342 of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen. 14:18 And the Egyptians will know 343 that I am the Lord when I have gained my honor 344 because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
14:19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar 345 of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 14:20 It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud 346 and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other 347 the whole night. 348 14:21 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart 349 by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided. 14:22 So the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the water forming a wall 350 for them on their right and on their left.
14:23 The Egyptians chased them and followed them into the middle of the sea – all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. 14:24 In the morning watch 351 the Lord looked down 352 on the Egyptian army 353 through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army 354 into a panic. 355 14:25 He jammed 356 the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, 357 and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee 358 from Israel, for the Lord fights 359 for them against Egypt!”
14:26 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sea, so that the waters may flow 360 back on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen!” 14:27 So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state 361 when the sun began to rise. 362 Now the Egyptians were fleeing 363 before it, but the Lord overthrew 364 the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 14:28 The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that was coming after the Israelites into the sea 365 – not so much as one of them survived! 366 14:29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground in the middle of the sea, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 14:30 So the Lord saved 367 Israel on that day from the power 368 of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead 369 on the shore of the sea. 14:31 When Israel saw 370 the great power 371 that the Lord had exercised 372 over the Egyptians, they 373 feared the Lord, and they believed in 374 the Lord and in his servant Moses. 375
15:1 376 Then Moses and the Israelites sang 377 this song to the Lord. They said, 378
“I will sing 379 to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, 380
the horse and its rider 381 he has thrown into the sea.
15:2 The Lord 382 is my strength and my song, 383
and he has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise him, 384
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
15:3 The Lord is a warrior, 385
the Lord is his name. 386
15:4 The chariots of Pharaoh 387 and his army he has thrown into the sea,
and his chosen 388 officers were drowned 389 in the Red Sea.
15:5 The depths have covered them, 390
they went down to the bottom 391 like a stone.
15:6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic 392 in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
15:7 In the abundance of your majesty 393 you have overthrown 394
those who rise up against you. 395
You sent forth 396 your wrath; 397
it consumed them 398 like stubble.
15:8 By the blast of your nostrils 399 the waters were piled up,
the flowing water stood upright like a heap, 400
and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.
15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, 401 I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil;
my desire 402 will be satisfied on them.
I will draw 403 my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ 404
15:10 But 405 you blew with your breath, and 406 the sea covered them.
They sank 407 like lead in the mighty waters.
15:11 Who is like you, 408 O Lord, among the gods? 409
Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, 410 working wonders?
15:12 You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them. 411
15:13 By your loyal love you will lead 412 the people whom 413 you have redeemed;
you will guide 414 them by your strength to your holy dwelling place.
15:14 The nations will hear 415 and tremble;
anguish 416 will seize 417 the inhabitants of Philistia.
15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, 418
trembling will seize 419 the leaders of Moab,
and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.
15:16 Fear and dread 420 will fall 421 on them;
by the greatness 422 of your arm they will be as still as stone 423
until 424 your people pass by, O Lord,
until the people whom you have bought 425 pass by.
15:17 You will bring them in 426 and plant them in the mountain 427 of your inheritance,
in the place you made 428 for your residence, O Lord,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
15:18 The Lord will reign forever and ever!
15:19 For the horses of Pharaoh came with his chariots and his footmen into the sea,
and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them,
but the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.”
15:20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand-drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand-drums and with dances. 429 15:21 Miriam sang in response 430 to them, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.” 431
15:22 432 Then Moses led Israel to journey 433 away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days 434 into the desert, and found no water. 15:23 Then they came to Marah, 435 but they were not able to drink 436 the waters of Marah, because 437 they were bitter. 438 (That is 439 why its name was 440 Marah.)
15:24 So the people murmured 441 against Moses, saying, “What can 442 we drink?” 15:25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him 443 a tree. 444 When Moses 445 threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord 446 made for them 447 a binding ordinance, 448 and there he tested 449 them. 15:26 He said, “If you will diligently obey 450 the Lord your God, and do what is right 451 in his sight, and pay attention 452 to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all 453 the diseases 454 that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” 455
15:27 Then they came to Elim, 456 where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.