Exodus 15
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 15
The Song of Moses and Miriam.[a] 1 Moses and the children of Israel therefore sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing in honor of the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant,
horse and horseman he has cast into the sea.
2 My strength and my song is the Lord,
for he has saved me.
He is my God, and I wish to praise him,
the God of my father, and I wish to exalt him.
3 “The Lord is a warrior,
Lord is his name.
4 He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea.
His choice troops were drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The depths covered them
and they sank like a stone.
6 “Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in its power.
Your right hand, O Lord, has destroyed the enemy.
7 With the greatness of your majesty you have overthrown those who rose up against you.
You sent forth your anger and it devoured them like straw.
8 At the breath of your nostrils, the waters piled up.
The flood waters piled up and stood like a mound;
the deep waters congealed in the midst of the sea.
9 “The enemy had said, ‘I will pursue and overtake them.
I will divide the spoil, and my passion will be satisfied on them.
I will draw my sword, and my hand will destroy them.’
10 You blew your wind, and the sea covered them.
Like lead they sank in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like you among the gods, O Lord?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in praise, doing wonders?
12 You extended your right hand
and the earth swallowed them.
13 “In your mercy you guided the people you had redeemed.
You guided them with strength to your holy dwelling.
14 The people will hear and be afraid.
Anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 The leaders of Edom tremble,
the mighty ones of Moab are gripped with fear,
all the inhabitants of Canaan melt away.
16 Fear and terror fall upon them.
The greatness of your arm makes them still as stone,
until your people have passed over, O Lord,
until your people whom you have acquired have passed over.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your inheritance,
in the place that you have prepared for your dwelling, O Lord,
the sanctuary that your own hands have founded.
18 The Lord reigns forever and ever.”
19 When the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back upon them, while the children of Israel walked through the midst of the sea on dry ground. 20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the other women came out after her playing their tambourines and dancing. 21 Miriam led them in the refrain:
“Sing to the Lord for he is wondrously triumphant;
horse and horsemen he has cast into the sea.”
The Journey through the Wilderness[b]
22 The Waters of Marah and Elim. Moses led the children of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they traveled toward the Desert of Shur. They walked three days into the desert and they did not find water. 23 They arrived at Marah, but they could not drink the waters of Marah for they were bitter. That is why the place was called Marah.[c] 24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What will we drink?” 25 He called upon the Lord, who showed him a tree. When he cast it into the water, it became sweet.
The Lord made a statute and an ordinance for them there and put them to the test. 26 He said, “If you listen to the voice of the Lord, your God, and you do what is right in his sight, if you listen to his ordinances and observe all of his laws, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
27 Then they arrived at Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. Here they camped near the waters.
Footnotes
- Exodus 15:1 Although this hymn is here put into the mouth of the leader, it shows the extent to which the biblical poets were determined to magnify the wonders that accompanied the crossing of the Red Sea (see Ps 106:9; Wis 19:6-9). The refrain attributed to Miriam, Moses’ sister (Ex 15:21), may be regarded as the seed out of which the poem grew; it was later expanded (vv. 4-5, 8) and subsequently completed, for the song also in fact extols the journey to the Promised Land (vv. 13-16) and the building of the Temple (v. 17), both of which were other signs of God’s merciful presence in the midst of his people.
- Exodus 15:22 The Hebrews journey through a desolate and hostile land that puts them in a sullen mood. God does not cease to multiply benefits in their favor. They thus represent the Church, the New People of God, who pursues her terrestrial march sustained by the Lord despite the failings of his children. It is in this long passage that the unity of Israel is forged and that it acquires its fundamental religious conceptions.
- Exodus 15:23 The Hebrew word mar means “bitter,” “bitterness” (see Ru 1:20).
