1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Tell the children of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; opposite Baal-zephon you shall camp, facing it, beside the sea.
3 Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are lost and confused in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.'
4 I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and through all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." And they did so.
5 When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants turned against the people, and they said, "What have we done? We have let Israel go, and now they will no longer serve us!"
6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his people with him.
7 He took six hundred select chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over every one of them.
8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he chased after the children of Israel; but the children of Israel were going out with a raised hand.
9 The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's chariot horses, his horsemen and his army, chased after them and caught up with them where they were camped beside the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.
10 As Pharaoh came 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 the LORD.
11 They said to Moses, "Were there no graves in Egypt, that you have brought us out to die in the wilderness? Why have you done this to us, bringing us out of Egypt?
12 Did we not tell you this very thing in Egypt, when we said, 'Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? Serving the Egyptians would have been better for us than dying in the wilderness."
13 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Take your stand and watch the salvation that the LORD will bring about for you today; for the Egyptians you see today you will never see again, ever.
14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only be still."
15 The LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the children of Israel to move on.
16 And you, raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, so that the children of Israel may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground.
17 As for me, I am about to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am glorified through Pharaoh, through his chariots and through his horsemen."
19 Then the angel of God, who had been going ahead of the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front of them and took its place behind them.
20 It came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. There was the cloud and the darkness, and yet it lit up the night, so that the one camp did not come near the other all night long.
21 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were split apart.
22 The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on dry ground, with the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians chased them and went in after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen, into the middle of the sea.
24 In the morning watch the LORD looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army into panic.
25 He took off the wheels of their chariots, so that they drove them with difficulty. Then the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."
26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and over their horsemen."
27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and as morning broke the sea went back to its full flow. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD shook the Egyptians off into the middle of the sea.
28 The waters came back and covered the chariots and the horsemen, the whole army of Pharaoh that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them was left.
29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry ground in the middle of the sea, with the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
30 So on that day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of Egypt, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore of the sea.
31 When Israel saw the great hand with which the LORD had acted against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in Moses his servant.