15:1 ¹ 

Then Moses and the Israelites sang ²  this song to the Lord. They said, ³ 

“I will sing ⁴  to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, ⁵ 

the horse and its rider ⁶  he has thrown into the sea.

15:2 The Lord ⁷  is my strength and my song, ⁸ 

and he has become my salvation.

This is my God, and I will praise him, ⁹ 

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

15:3 The Lord is a warrior, ¹⁰ 

the Lord is his name. ¹¹ 

15:4 The chariots of Pharaoh ¹²  and his army he has thrown into the sea,

and his chosen ¹³  officers were drowned ¹⁴  in the Red Sea.

15:5 The depths have covered them, ¹⁵ 

they went down to the bottom ¹⁶  like a stone.

15:6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic ¹⁷  in power,

your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.

15:7 In the abundance of your majesty ¹⁸  you have overthrown ¹⁹ 

those who rise up against you. ²⁰ 

You sent forth ²¹  your wrath; ²² 

it consumed them ²³  like stubble.

15:8 By the blast of your nostrils ²⁴  the waters were piled up,

the flowing water stood upright like a heap, ²⁵ 

and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.

15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, ²⁶  I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my desire ²⁷  will be satisfied on them.

I will draw ²⁸  my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ ²⁹ 

15:10 But ³⁰  you blew with your breath, and ³¹  the sea covered them.

They sank ³²  like lead in the mighty waters.

15:11 Who is like you, ³³  O Lord, among the gods? ³⁴ 

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, ³⁵  working wonders?

15:12 You stretched out your right hand,

the earth swallowed them. ³⁶ 

15:13 By your loyal love you will lead ³⁷  the people whom ³⁸  you have redeemed;

you will guide ³⁹  them by your strength to your holy dwelling place.

15:14 The nations will hear ⁴⁰  and tremble;

anguish ⁴¹  will seize ⁴²  the inhabitants of Philistia.

15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, ⁴³ 

trembling will seize ⁴⁴  the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

15:16 Fear and dread ⁴⁵  will fall ⁴⁶  on them;

by the greatness ⁴⁷  of your arm they will be as still as stone ⁴⁸ 

until ⁴⁹  your people pass by, O Lord,

until the people whom you have bought ⁵⁰  pass by.

15:17 You will bring them in ⁵¹  and plant them in the mountain ⁵²  of your inheritance,

in the place you made ⁵³  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. ⁵⁴  15:21 Miriam sang in response ⁵⁵  to them, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.” ⁵⁶ 

15:22 ⁵⁷ 

Then Moses led Israel to journey ⁵⁸  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ⁵⁹  into the desert, and found no water. 15:23 Then they came to Marah, ⁶⁰  but they were not able to drink ⁶¹  the waters of Marah, because ⁶²  they were bitter. ⁶³  (That is ⁶⁴  why its name was ⁶⁵  Marah.)

15:24 So the people murmured ⁶⁶  against Moses, saying, “What can ⁶⁷  we drink?” 15:25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him ⁶⁸  a tree. ⁶⁹  When Moses ⁷⁰  threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord ⁷¹  made for them ⁷²  a binding ordinance, ⁷³  and there he tested ⁷⁴  them. 15:26 He said, “If you will diligently obey ⁷⁵  the Lord your God, and do what is right ⁷⁶  in his sight, and pay attention ⁷⁷  to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all ⁷⁸  the diseases ⁷⁹  that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” ⁸⁰ 

15:27 Then they came to Elim, ⁸¹  where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

16:1 ⁸² 

When ⁸³  they journeyed from Elim, the entire company ⁸⁴  of Israelites came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their exodus ⁸⁵  from the land of Egypt. 16:2 The entire company ⁸⁶  of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the desert. 16:3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died ⁸⁷  by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by ⁸⁸  the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, ⁸⁹  for you have brought us out into this desert to kill ⁹⁰  this whole assembly with hunger!”

16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain ⁹¹  bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out ⁹²  and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. ⁹³  Will they walk in my law ⁹⁴  or not? 16:5 On the sixth day ⁹⁵  they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day.” ⁹⁶ 

16:6 Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening ⁹⁷  you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, 16:7 and in the morning you will see ⁹⁸  the glory of the Lord, because he has heard ⁹⁹  your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, ¹⁰⁰  that you should murmur against us?”

16:8 Moses said, “You will know this ¹⁰¹  when the Lord gives you ¹⁰²  meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we? ¹⁰³  Your murmurings are not against us, ¹⁰⁴  but against the Lord.”

16:9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community ¹⁰⁵  of the Israelites, ‘Come ¹⁰⁶  before the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings.’”

16:10 As Aaron spoke ¹⁰⁷  to the whole community of the Israelites and they looked toward the desert, there the glory of the Lord ¹⁰⁸  appeared ¹⁰⁹  in the cloud, 16:11 and the Lord spoke to Moses: 16:12 “I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘During the evening ¹¹⁰  you will eat meat, ¹¹¹  and in the morning you will be satisfied ¹¹²  with bread, so that you may know ¹¹³  that I am the Lord your God.’” ¹¹⁴ 

16:13 In the evening the quail ¹¹⁵  came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was all around the camp. 16:14 When ¹¹⁶  the layer of dew had evaporated, ¹¹⁷  there on the surface of the desert was a thin flaky substance, ¹¹⁸  thin like frost on the earth. 16:15 When ¹¹⁹  the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, ¹²⁰  “What is it?” because they did not know what it was. ¹²¹  Moses said to them, “It is the bread ¹²²  that the Lord has given you for food. ¹²³ 

16:16 “This is what ¹²⁴  the Lord has commanded: ¹²⁵  ‘Each person is to gather ¹²⁶  from it what he can eat, an omer ¹²⁷  per person ¹²⁸  according to the number ¹²⁹  of your people; ¹³⁰  each one will pick it up ¹³¹  for whoever lives ¹³²  in his tent.’” 16:17 The Israelites did so, and they gathered – some more, some less. 16:18 When ¹³³  they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.

16:19 Moses said to them, “No one ¹³⁴  is to keep any of it ¹³⁵  until morning.” 16:20 But they did not listen to Moses; some ¹³⁶  kept part of it until morning, and it was full ¹³⁷  of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them. 16:21 So they gathered it each morning, ¹³⁸  each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt. ¹³⁹  16:22 And ¹⁴⁰  on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers ¹⁴¹  per person; ¹⁴²  and all the leaders ¹⁴³  of the community ¹⁴⁴  came and told ¹⁴⁵  Moses. 16:23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, ¹⁴⁶  a holy Sabbath ¹⁴⁷  to the Lord. Whatever you want to ¹⁴⁸  bake, bake today; ¹⁴⁹  whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”

16:24 So they put it aside until the morning, just as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. 16:25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the area. ¹⁵⁰  16:26 Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

16:27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they found nothing. 16:28 So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse ¹⁵¹  to obey my commandments and my instructions? 16:29 See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why ¹⁵²  he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; ¹⁵³  let no one ¹⁵⁴  go out of his place on the seventh day.” 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

16:31 The house of Israel ¹⁵⁵  called its name “manna.” ¹⁵⁶  It was like coriander seed and was white, and it tasted ¹⁵⁷  like wafers with honey.

16:32 Moses said, “This is what ¹⁵⁸  the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept ¹⁵⁹  for generations to come, ¹⁶⁰  so that they may see ¹⁶¹  the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’” 16:33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put in it an omer full of manna, and place it before the Lord to be kept for generations to come.” 16:34 Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony ¹⁶²  for safekeeping. ¹⁶³ 

16:35 Now the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was inhabited; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 16:36 (Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.) ¹⁶⁴ 

17:1 ¹⁶⁵ 

The whole community ¹⁶⁶  of the Israelites traveled on their journey ¹⁶⁷  from the Desert of Sin according to the Lord’s instruction, and they pitched camp in Rephidim. ¹⁶⁸  Now ¹⁶⁹  there was no water for the people to drink. ¹⁷⁰  17:2 So the people contended ¹⁷¹  with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink!” ¹⁷²  Moses said to them, “Why do you contend ¹⁷³  with me? Why do you test ¹⁷⁴  the Lord?” 17:3 But the people were very thirsty ¹⁷⁵  there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world ¹⁷⁶  did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” ¹⁷⁷ 

17:4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with ¹⁷⁸  this people? – a little more ¹⁷⁹  and they will stone me!” ¹⁸⁰  17:5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go over before the people; ¹⁸¹  take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. 17:6 I will be standing ¹⁸²  before you there on ¹⁸³  the rock in Horeb, and you will strike ¹⁸⁴  the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” ¹⁸⁵  And Moses did so in plain view ¹⁸⁶  of the elders of Israel.

17:7 He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, ¹⁸⁷  saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

17:8 ¹⁸⁸ 

Amalek came ¹⁸⁹  and attacked ¹⁹⁰  Israel in Rephidim. 17:9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our ¹⁹¹  men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

17:10 So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him; ¹⁹² and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 17:11 Whenever Moses would raise his hands, ¹⁹³  then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest ¹⁹⁴  his hands, then Amalek prevailed. 17:12 When ¹⁹⁵  the hands of Moses became heavy, ¹⁹⁶  they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, ¹⁹⁷  and so his hands were steady ¹⁹⁸  until the sun went down. 17:13 So Joshua destroyed ¹⁹⁹  Amalek and his army ²⁰⁰  with the sword. ²⁰¹ 

17:14 The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the ²⁰²  book, and rehearse ²⁰³  it in Joshua’s hearing; ²⁰⁴  for I will surely wipe out ²⁰⁵  the remembrance ²⁰⁶  of Amalek from under heaven. 17:15 Moses built an altar, and he called it “The Lord is my Banner,” ²⁰⁷  17:16 for he said, “For a hand was lifted up to the throne of the Lord ²⁰⁸  – that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” ²⁰⁹