World English Bible · Egypt and Sinai
Exodus 14
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1 spoke to , saying, "Speak to the , that they and encamp before , between and the sea, before . You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. will say of the , 'They are entangled in the land. has shut them in.' I will harden , and he will follow after them; and I will get over , and over all his armies; and the shall know that I am ." They did so. The king of was told that the people had fled; and of and of his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from us?" 6He prepared his chariot, and took his army with him; and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of , with captains over all of them. hardened of king of , and he pursued the ; for the went out with a high hand. The pursued them. All the horses and chariots of , his horsemen, and his army overtook them encamping by the sea, beside , before . When came near, the lifted up their eyes, and behold, the were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The cried out to . They said to , "Because there were no in , have you taken us away to in ? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of ? Isn't this the word that we spoke to you in , saying, 'Leave us alone, that we may the '? For it would have been better for us to the than to in ." said to the people, "Don't be afraid. Stand still, and see the of , which he will work for you today; for you will never again see the whom you have seen today. will fight for you, and you shall be still." said to , "Why do you cry to me? Speak to the , that they go forward. Lift up your , and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. Then the shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground. Behold, I myself will harden the of the , and they will go in after them. I will get myself over , and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. The shall know that I am when I have gotten myself over , over his chariots, and over his horsemen." , who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. It came between the camp of and the camp of Israel. There was the cloud and , yet it gave by night. One didn't come near the other all night. stretched out his hand over the sea, and caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. The went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground; and the waters were a wall to them on their and on their left. The pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the sea: all of horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. In the morning watch, looked out on the army through of and of cloud, and confused the army. He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the said, "Let's flee from the of Israel, for fights for them against the !" said to , "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the , on their chariots, and on their horsemen." stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the fled against it. overthrew the in the middle of the sea. The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. But the walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their and on their left. Thus Israel that day out of the hand of the ; and Israel saw the on the seashore. Israel saw the great work which did to the , and the people feared ; and they in and in his servant .
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The world at this moment · Egypt and Sinai, 1450 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel in and then out of Egypt, at a period when Egypt was an imperial power that also controlled Canaan. The nation is formed as a people with a law before it has any land.
- Egypt
- The New Kingdom at its imperial peak, with a professional army, a chariot corps, and control reaching up through Canaan. Ramesses II reigns for sixty-six years and covers the country in monuments to himself. Egyptian power in this period is the reason Canaan is garrisoned rather than free.
- The Hittites
- The other superpower, in what is now Turkey, and Egypt's rival for the Levant. The two fight the largest chariot battle of the ancient world at Kadesh, then sign a treaty whose text survives from both sides. Hittite treaty form, with its historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses, is the shape the Sinai covenant takes, which is one of the stronger arguments for the antiquity of that material.
- The Aegean
- Mycenaean Greece: warrior kings in stone citadels at Mycenae and Pylos, keeping palace accounts in Linear B. The world of the Trojan War stories, whatever lies behind them.
- Further afield
- The Shang dynasty in China is casting extraordinary bronzes and writing questions to its ancestors on ox bones. In Mesoamerica the Olmec are beginning the first civilisation of the Americas.