Exodus 15

1Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for he is lifted high in triumph; horse and rider he has flung into the sea. 2My strength and my song is the LORD; he has come to save me. This is my God, and I will honor him with praise; the God of my father, and I will lift him high. 3The LORD is a man of war; his name is the LORD. 4Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea; his finest officers went down in the Red Sea. 5The deep waters closed over them; like a stone they dropped to the bottom. 6O LORD, your right hand is splendid in power; O LORD, your right hand smashed the enemy. 7In your surpassing majesty you tore down those who rose against you; you let loose your fury, and it burned them up like straw. 8At the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled high; the flowing waters stood upright in a heap, and the depths grew solid in the heart of the sea. 9The enemy said, ‘I will chase them and catch them; I will share out the loot and take my fill of them; I will draw my sword, and my hand will wipe them out.’ 10But you breathed out, and the sea closed over them; they went down like lead in the powerful waters. 11Among the gods, who compares with you, O LORD? Who is like you, splendid in holiness, fearsome in deeds of praise, doer of wonders? 12You reached out your right hand, and the ground swallowed them. 13With faithful love you led the people you had redeemed; with your strength you guided them on to your holy abode. 14Nations heard and shuddered; agony took hold of those who lived in Philistia. 15Then Edom’s clan chiefs were struck with dismay; Moab’s rulers were gripped with trembling; everyone living in Canaan lost heart. 16Fear and dread came down on them; at the might of your arm they stood silent as stone, while your people crossed over, O LORD, while the people you made your own crossed over. 17You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance, the place you have prepared for your dwelling, O LORD, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your own hands set firm. 18The LORD will reign forever and ever!” 19Pharaoh’s horses, with his chariots and his horsemen, had gone into the sea, and the LORD had turned the sea’s waters back on top of them; but the Israelites had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground.

20Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, picked up a tambourine, and all the women came out behind her, beating tambourines and dancing. 21Miriam led them in the refrain: “Sing to the LORD, for he is lifted high in triumph; horse and rider he has flung into the sea.”

22Moses had Israel move on from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. For three days they walked through the wilderness without coming upon any water. 23When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there, because it was bitter. That is why the place was named Marah. 24The people grumbled at Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they said. 25Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD pointed him to a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water turned sweet. It was there that the LORD laid down a statute and a rule for them, and there that he put them to the test. 26He said, “If you listen closely to the voice of the LORD your God and do what he sees as right, if you pay heed to his commands and keep all his statutes, I will spare you every one of the sicknesses that I laid on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

27Next they arrived at Elim. Twelve springs of water were there, and seventy palm trees, and they set up camp beside the water.