Exodus 15

Read Exodus 15.

Exodus 15 opens with a, a triumphant hymn of praise sung by Moses and the Israelites to the LORD following their miraculous deliverance from Egypt. The song celebrated the LORD's overwhelming victory over Pharaoh and his army, who had been swallowed up by the sea. The Israelites exalted the LORD as their strength and salvation, declaring Him a warrior whose name was to be glorified above all.

The song vividly recounted how God had hurled the enemy's chariots and soldiers into the water, where they sank like stones. The Israelites praised the incomparable majesty and power of the LORD, acknowledging that His right hand had shattered the enemy and that His wrath had consumed them like stubble in a fire. The waters piled up with a blast of the LORD's breath, allowing the Israelites to pass through, while the same waters then crashed down and covered the Egyptians.

The song then turned toward the future, describing how the surrounding nations — the inhabitants of Canaan, the Philistines, the Edomites, and the Moabites — would hear of this great act and tremble in fear. The Israelites affirmed their confidence that the LORD would guide them to His holy mountain and plant them there, and He would reign forever and ever.

Following Moses' song, his sister Miriam led the women of Israel in praise, taking up a tambourine and dancing as she sang a refrain echoing the opening of the great hymn — praising the LORD for his glorious triumph over the horse and rider thrown into the sea.

The chapter then shifts from praise to struggle, as Moses led the people away from the sea and into the wilderness of Shur. After three days without finding water, they arrived at a place called Marah, only to discover that the water there was bitter and undrinkable. The people complained about Moses, asking what they were to supposed to drink.

Moses cried out to the LORD, who showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became sweet and drinkable. It was there that the LORD gave the people a statute and a rule, testing them and calling them to listen carefully to the LORD's voice and do what was right in His eyes, promising that, if they obeyed, He wouldn't bring upon them the diseases He had brought on Egypt, for He was the LORD who healed them.

The end of the chapter records the journey of the Israelites to Elim, where they found twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there beside the water.