Saturday in Season after Pentecost

9Verse 9. The Egyptians— all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops— pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon. 10Verse 10. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11Verse 11. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12Verse 12. Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13Verse 13. But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14Verse 14. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 15Verse 15. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 16Verse 16. And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17Verse 17. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen. 18Verse 18. The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 19Verse 19. And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them, 20Verse 20. so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other. 21Verse 21. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided, 22Verse 22. and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. 23Verse 23. And the Egyptians chased after them— all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen— and followed them into the sea. 24Verse 24. At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion. 25Verse 25. He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”

18Verse 18. They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand. 19Verse 19. And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” 20Verse 20. He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”