Exodus 15
15
The Song of Moses and Miriam
1Here is the song that Moses and the people of Israel sang to the Lord. They said,
“I will sing to the Lord.
He is greatly honored.
He has thrown Pharaoh’s horses and chariot drivers
into the Red Sea.
2The Lord gives me strength and protects me.
He has saved me.
He is my God, I will praise him.
He is my father’s God, and I will honor him.
3The Lord goes into battle.
The Lord is his name.
4He has thrown Pharaoh’s chariots and army
into the Red Sea.
Pharaoh’s best officers
drowned in the sea.
5The deep waters covered them.
They sank to the bottom like a stone.
6“Lord, your right hand
was majestic and powerful.
Lord, your right hand
destroyed your enemies.
7Because of your great majesty,
you threw down those who opposed you.
Your burning anger blazed out.
It burned them up like straw.
8The powerful blast from your nose
piled up the waters.
The rushing waters stood firm like a wall.
The deep waters stood up in the middle of the sea.
9“Your enemies bragged,
‘We will chase Israel and will catch them.
We’ll divide up what we take from them.
We’ll eat them alive.
We’ll pull our swords out.
Our powerful hands will destroy them.’
10But you blew with your breath.
The Red Sea covered your enemies.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
11“Lord, who among the gods is like you?
Who is like you?
You are majestic and holy.
Your glory fills me with wonder.
You do amazing things.
12You reach out your right hand.
The earth swallows up your enemies.
13“Because your love is faithful,
you will lead the people you have set free.
Because you are so strong,
you will guide them to the holy place where you live.
14The nations will hear about it and tremble.
Pain and suffering will take hold of the Philistines.
15The chiefs of Edom will be terrified.
The leaders of Moab will tremble with fear.
The people of Canaan will melt away.
16Fear and terror will fall on them.
Your powerful arm
will make them as still as a stone.
Then your people will pass by, Lord.
Then the people you created will pass by.
17You will bring them in.
You will plant them on the mountain you gave them.
Lord, you have made that place your home.
Lord, your hands have made your holy place secure.
18“The Lord rules
for ever and ever.”
19Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the Red Sea. The Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the people of Israel walked through the sea on dry ground. 20Aaron’s sister Miriam was a prophet. She took a tambourine in her hand. All the women followed her. They played tambourines and danced. 21Miriam sang to them,
“Sing to the Lord.
He is greatly honored.
He has thrown Pharaoh’s horses and chariot drivers
into the Red Sea.”
The Waters of Marah and Elim
22Then Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea. They went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert. They didn’t find any water there. 23When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink its water. It was bitter. That’s why the place is named Marah. 24The people told Moses they weren’t happy with him. They said, “What are we supposed to drink?”
25Then Moses cried out to the Lord. The Lord showed him a stick. Moses threw it into the water. The water became fit to drink.
There the Lord gave a ruling and instruction for the people. And there he tested them. 26He said, “I am the Lord your God. Listen carefully to me. Do what is right in my eyes. Pay attention to my commands. Obey all my rules. If you do, I will not send on you any of the sicknesses I sent on the Egyptians. I am the Lord who heals you.”
27The people came to Elim. It had 12 springs and 70 palm trees. They camped there near the water.
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Exodus 15: NIrV
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Exodus 15
15
1Then Moses and the Israelites sang#Ex 15:21. this song to the Lord:#This poem, regarded by many scholars as one of the oldest compositions in the Bible, was once an independent work. It has been inserted at this important juncture in the large narrative of Exodus to celebrate God’s saving power, having miraculously delivered the people from their enemies, and ultimately leading them to the promised land.Although the victory it describes over the Egyptians at the sea bears a superficial resemblance in v. 8 to the preceding depiction of the water standing like a wall (14:22), the poem (as opposed to the following prose verse, v. 19) suggests a different version of the victory at sea than that found in chap. 14. There is no splitting of the sea in an act reminiscent of the Lord’s combat at creation with the sea monsters Rahab and Leviathan (Jb 9:13; 26:12; Ps 74:13–14; 89:11; Is 51:9–10); nor is there mention of an east wind driving the waters back so that the Israelites can cross. In this version it is by means of a storm at sea, caused by a ferocious blast from his nostrils, that the Lord achieves a decisive victory against Pharaoh and his army (vv. 1–12). The second half of the poem (vv. 13–18) describes God’s guidance into the promised land.
I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
2My strength and my refuge is the Lord,
and he has become my savior.#Ps 118:14; Is 12:2.
This is my God, I praise him;
the God of my father, I extol him.
3The Lord is a warrior,
Lord is his name!
4Pharaoh’s chariots and army he hurled into the sea;
the elite of his officers were drowned in the Red Sea.#Red Sea: the traditional translation of the Hebrew yam suph, which actually means “Sea of Reeds” or “reedy sea.” The location is uncertain, though in view of the route taken by the Israelites from Egypt to Sinai, it could not have been the Red Sea, which is too far south. It was probably a smaller body of water north of the Gulf of Suez. The term occurs also in Exodus at 10:19; 13:18; and 23:31.
5The flood waters covered them,
they sank into the depths like a stone.#Neh 9:11.
6Your right hand, O Lord, magnificent in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
7In your great majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
you loosed your wrath to consume them like stubble.
8At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up,
the flowing waters stood like a mound,
the flood waters foamed in the midst of the sea.
9The enemy boasted, “I will pursue and overtake them;
I will divide the spoils and have my fill of them;
I will draw my sword; my hand will despoil them!”
10When you blew with your breath, the sea covered them;
like lead they sank in the mighty waters.
11Who is like you among the gods, O Lord?
Who is like you, magnificent among the holy ones?
Awe-inspiring in deeds of renown, worker of wonders,
12when you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them!
13In your love#Love: the very important Hebrew term hesed carries a variety of nuances depending on context: love, kindness, faithfulness. It is often rendered “steadfast love.” It implies a relationship that generates an obligation and therefore is at home in a covenant context. Cf. 20:6. you led the people you redeemed;
in your strength you guided them to your holy dwelling.
14The peoples heard and quaked;
anguish gripped the dwellers in Philistia.
15Then were the chieftains of Edom dismayed,
the nobles of Moab seized by trembling;
All the inhabitants of Canaan melted away;
16#Ps 78:53–55. terror and dread fell upon them.
By the might of your arm they became silent like stone,
while your people, Lord, passed over,
while the people whom you created passed over.#Passed over: an allusion to the crossing of the Jordan River (cf. Jos 3–5), written as if the entry into the promised land had already occurred. This verse suggests that at one time there was a ritual enactment of the conquest at a shrine near the Jordan River which included also a celebration of the victory at the sea.
17You brought them in, you planted them
on the mountain that is your own—
The place you made the base of your throne, Lord,
the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.
18May the Lord reign forever and ever!
19When Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen entered the sea, the Lord made the waters of the sea flow back upon them, though the Israelites walked on dry land through the midst of the sea.#Ex 14:21–29. 20Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, while all the women went out after her with tambourines, dancing; 21and she responded#She responded: Miriam’s refrain echoes the first verse of this song and was probably sung as an antiphon after each verse. to them:
Sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.#Ex 15:1.
V. THE JOURNEY IN THE WILDERNESS TO SINAI
At Marah and Elim. 22#Nm 33:8. Then Moses led Israel forward from the Red Sea,#Red Sea: see note on Ex 15:4. and they marched out to the wilderness of Shur. After traveling for three days through the wilderness without finding water, 23they arrived at Marah, where they could not drink its water, because it was too bitter. Hence this place was called Marah. 24As the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” 25he cried out to the Lord, who pointed out to him a piece of wood. When he threw it into the water, the water became fresh.#Sir 38:5.
It was here that God, in making statutes and ordinances for them, put them to the test. 26He said: If you listen closely to the voice of the Lord, your God, and do what is right in his eyes: if you heed his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not afflict you with any of the diseases with which I afflicted the Egyptians;#Dt 7:15. for I, the Lord, am your healer.
27Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.#Nm 33:9.
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