God did not lead the people by the shorter road through Philistine land, saying that war might make them return to Egypt. Israel traveled by the wilderness toward the sea, and Moses carried Joseph’s bones. A pillar of cloud led them by day and a pillar of fire by night.
Pharaoh changed his mind when he heard the people had fled. He took chariots and horsemen after them. At the sea, Israel saw the Egyptian army approaching and cried that Moses had brought them out to die. Moses told them not to fear but to stand still and see the deliverance God would accomplish.
God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea. The cloud moved behind Israel, standing between them and Egypt. A strong east wind drove the sea back through the night and made dry ground. Israel entered the sea with water like walls on either side, and Egypt’s chariots followed.
At dawn God threw the Egyptian army into confusion and made its chariot wheels difficult to drive. The Egyptians said the LORD was fighting for Israel and tried to flee. Moses stretched out his hand again, and the sea returned over chariots and horsemen. Israel saw the Egyptians dead along the shore.
Seeing this great act, the people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in Moses. Moses and Israel sang. Miriam took a tambourine, and the women followed her with tambourines and dancing as she sang that horse and rider had been thrown into the sea.
Pharaoh thought that Israel was wandering confused in the wilderness. He took six hundred selected chariots and all Egypt’s chariots. When the people cried in fear, Moses said that they would never again see the Egyptians they saw that day. God told the people to go forward and told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea. Israel walked through it on dry ground during the night while the Egyptian army followed until dawn approached.
After the sea closed, Israel stood on the shore and saw what God had done to Egypt. Moses’s song praised God’s greatness and Pharaoh’s chariots thrown into the sea. It called God mighty in battle and spoke of the right hand shattering the enemy. The song looked toward God leading the people to the place prepared for them and planting them by the sanctuary. Miriam and the women then took tambourines and danced as they answered with its refrain.
Moses’s song says that Pharaoh’s chariots and army sank in the depths. The waters covered them like stone, and the breath of God made the sea swallow them like lead. Moses asked who among the gods was like the LORD. Israel had seen this power and feared. Miriam’s short answer held the scene in one line: horse and rider had been thrown into the sea.