Chapter 13

13:10. Thou shalt keep this observance at the set time from days to days.

13:11. And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the Chanaanite, as he swore to thee and thy fathers, and shall give it thee:

13:12. Thou shalt set apart all that openeth the womb for the Lord, and all that is first brought forth of thy cattle: whatsoever thou shalt have of the male sex, thou shalt consecrate to the Lord.

13:13. The firstborn of an ass thou shalt change for a sheep: and if thou do not redeem it, thou shalt kill it. And every firstborn of men thou shalt redeem with a price.

13:14. And when thy son shall ask thee to morrow, saying: What is this? thou shalt answer him: With a strong hand did the Lord bring us forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

13:15. For when Pharao was hardened, and would not let us go, the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man to the firstborn of beasts: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the womb of the male sex, and all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.

13:16. And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a thing hung between thy eyes, for a remembrance: because the Lord hath brought us forth out of Egypt by a strong hand.

13:17. And when Pharao had sent out the people, the Lord led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, which is near; thinking lest perhaps they would repent, if they should see wars arise against them, and would return into Egypt.

13:18. But he led them about by the way of the desert, which is by the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.

13:19. And Moses took Joseph’s bones with him: because he had adjured the children of Israel, saying: God shall visit you, carry out my bones from hence with you.

13:20. And marching from Socoth, they encamped in Etham, in the utmost coasts of the wilderness.

13:21. And the Lord went before them to shew the way, by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire; that he might be the guide of their journey at both times.

13:22. There never failed the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, before the people.

Exodus Chapter 14

Pharao pursueth the children of Israel. They murmur against Moses, but are encouraged by him, and pass through the Red Sea. Pharao and his army following them are drowned.

14:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

14:2. Speak to the children of Israel: Let them turn and encamp over against Phihahiroth, which is between Magdal and the sea over against Beelsephon: you shall encamp before it upon the sea.

14:3. And Pharao will say of the children of Israel: They are straitened in the land, the desert hath shut them in.

14:4. And I shall harden his heart and he will pursue you: and I shall be glorified in Pharao, and in all his army: and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

14:5. And it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people was fled: and the heart of Pharao and of his servants was changed with regard to the people, and they said: What meant we to do, that we let Israel go from serving us?

14:6. So he made ready his chariot, and took all his people with him.

14:7. And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots that were in Egypt: and the captains of the whole army.

14:8. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharao, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; but they were gone forth in a mighty hand.

14:9. And when the Egyptians followed the steps of them who were gone before, they found them encamped at the sea side: all Pharao’s horse and chariots and the whole army were in Phihahiroth, before Beelsephon.

14:10. And when Pharao drew near, the children of Israel lifting up their eyes, saw the Egyptians behind them: and they feared exceedingly, and cried to the Lord.

14:11. And they said to Moses: Perhaps there were no graves in Egypt, therefore thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness: why wouldst thou do this, to lead us out of Egypt?

14:12. Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying: Depart from us, that we may serve the Egyptians? for it was much better to serve them, than to die in the wilderness.

14:13. And Moses said to the people: Fear not: stand, and see the great wonders of the Lord, which he will do this day; for the Egyptians, whom you see now, you shall see no more for ever.

14:14. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

14:15. And the Lord said to Moses: Why criest thou to me? Speak to the children of Israel to go forward.

14:16. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand over the sea, and divide it: that the children of Israel may go through the midst of the sea on dry ground.

14:17. And I will harden the heart of the Egyptians to pursue you: and I will be glorified in Pharao, and in all his host, and in his chariots and in his horsemen.

14:18. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be glorified in Pharao, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen.

14:19. And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removing, went behind them: and together with him the pillar of the cloud, leaving the forepart,

14:20. Stood behind, between the Egyptians’ camp and the camp of Israel: and it was a dark cloud, and enlightening the night, so that they could not come at one another all the night.

A dark cloud, and enlightening the night.... It was a dark cloud to the Egyptians; but enlightened the night to the Israelites by giving them a great light.

14:21. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over the sea, the Lord took it away by a strong and burning wind blowing all the night, and turned it into dry ground: and the water was divided.

14:22. And the children of Israel went in through the midst of the sea dried up; for the water was as a wall on their right hand and on their left.

14:23. And the Egyptians pursuing went in after them, and all Pharao’s horses, his chariots and horsemen, through the midst of the sea.

14:24. And now the morning watch was come, and behold the Lord looking upon the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, slew their host.

14:25. And overthrew the wheels of the chariots, and they were carried into the deep. And the Egyptians said: Let us flee from Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against us.

14:26. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and horsemen.

14:27. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the sea, it returned at the first break of day to the former place: and as the Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came upon them, and the Lord shut them up in the middle of the waves.

14:28. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the army of Pharao, who had come into the sea after them, neither did there so much as one of them remain.

14:29. But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right hand and on the left:

14:30. And the Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hands of the Egyptians.

14:31. And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore, and the mighty hand that the Lord had used against them: and the people feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord, and Moses his servant.

Exodus Chapter 15

The canticle of Moses. The bitter waters of Mara are made sweet.

15:1. Then Moses and the children of Israel sung this canticle to the Lord, and said: Let us sing to the Lord: for he is gloriously magnified, the horse and the rider he hath thrown into the sea.

15:2. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become salvation to me: he is my God, and I will glorify him: the God of my father, and I will exalt him.

15:3. The Lord is as a man of war, Almighty is his name.

15:4. Pharao’s chariots and his army he hath cast into the sea: his chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea.

15:5. The depths have covered them, they are sunk to the bottom like a stone.

15:6. Thy right hand, O Lord, is magnified in strength: thy right hand, O Lord, hath slain the enemy.

15:7. And in the multitude of thy glory thou hast put down thy adversaries: thou hast sent thy wrath, which hath devoured them like stubble.

15:8. And with the blast of thy anger the waters were gathered together: the flowing water stood, the depths were gathered together in the midst of the sea.

15:9. The enemy said: I will pursue and overtake, I will divide the spoils, my soul shall have its fill: I will draw my sword, my hand shall slay them.

15:10. Thy wind blew and the sea covered them: they sunk as lead in the mighty waters.

15:11. Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? who is like to thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praise-worthy, doing wonders?

15:12. Thou stretchedst forth thy hand, and the earth swallowed them.

15:13. In thy mercy thou hast been a leader to the people which thou hast redeemed: and in thy strength thou hast carried them to thy holy habitation.

15:14. Nations rose up, and were angry: sorrows took hold on the inhabitants of Philisthiim.

15:15. Then were the princes of Edom troubled, trembling seized on the stout men of Moab: all the inhabitants of Chanaan became stiff.

15:16. Let fear and dread fall upon them, in the greatness of thy arm: let them become immoveable as a stone, until thy people, O Lord, pass by: until this thy people pass by, which thou hast possessed.

15:17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thy inheritance, in thy most firm habitation, which thou hast made, O Lord; thy sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.

15:18. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

15:19. For Pharao went in on horseback with his chariots and horsemen into the sea: and the Lord brought back upon them the waters of the sea: but the children of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst thereof.

15:20. So Mary the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand: and all the women went forth after her with timbrels and with dances.

15:21. And she began the song to them, saying: Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously magnified, the horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea.

15:22. And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went forth into the wilderness of Sur: and they marched three days through the wilderness, and found no water.

15:23. And they came into Mara, and they could not drink the waters of Mara because they were bitter: whereupon he gave a name also agreeable to the place, calling it Mara, that is, bitterness.

15:24. And the people murmured against Moses, saying: What shall we drink?

15:25. But he cried to the Lord, and he shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, they were turned into sweetness. There he appointed him ordinances, and judgments, and there he proved him,

15:26. Saying: If thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and do what is right before him, and obey his commandments, and keep all his precepts, none of the evils that I laid upon Egypt, will I bring upon thee: for I am the Lord thy healer.

15:27. And the children of Israel came into Elim, where there were twelve fountains of water, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped by the waters.

Exodus Chapter 16

The people murmur for want of meat: God giveth them quails and manna.

16:1. And they set forward from Elim, and all the multitude of the children of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai: the fifteenth day of the second month, after they came out of the land of Egypt.

16:2. And all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

16:3. And the children of Israel said to them: Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat over the fleshpots, and ate bread to the full: Why have you brought us into this desert, that you might destroy all the multitude with famine?

16:4. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you; let the people go forth, and gather what is sufficient for every day: that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law, or not.

16:5. But the sixth day let them provide for to bring in: and let it be double to that they were wont to gather every day.

16:6. And Moses and Aaron said to the children of Israel In the evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Egypt:

16:7. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord: for he hath heard your murmuring against the Lord: but as for us, what are we, that you mutter against us?

16:8. And Moses said: In the evening the Lord will give you flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full: for he hath heard your murmurings, with which you have murmured against him, for what are we? your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord.

16:9. Moses also said to Aaron: Say to the whole congregation of the children of Israel: Come before the Lord; for he hath heard your murmuring.

16:10. And when Aaron spoke to all the assembly of the children of Israel, they looked towards the wilderness; and behold the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

16:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

16:12. I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel, say to them: In the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.

16:13. So it came to pass in the evening, that quails coming up, covered the camp: and in the morning a dew lay round about the camp.

16:14. And when it had covered the face of the earth, it appeared in the wilderness small, and as it were beaten with a pestle, like unto the hoar frost on the ground.

16:15. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another: Manhu! which signifieth: What is this! for they knew not what it was. And Moses said to them: This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

16:16. This is the word that the Lord hath commanded: Let every one gather of it as much as is enough to eat; a gomor for every man, according to the number of your souls that dwell in a tent, so shall you take of it.

16:17. And the children of Israel did so: and they gathered, one more, another less.

16:18. And they measured by the measure of a gomor: neither had he more that had gathered more; nor did he find less that had provided less: but every one had gathered, according to what they were able to eat.

16:19. And Moses said to them: Let no man leave thereof till the morning.

16:20. And they hearkened not to him, but some of them left until the morning, and it began to be full of worms, and it putrified, and Moses was angry with them.

16:21. Now every one of them gathered in the morning, as much as might suffice to eat: and after the sun grew hot, it melted.

16:22. But on the sixth day they gathered twice as much, that is, two gomors every man: and all the rulers of the multitude came, and told Moses.

16:23. And he said to them: This is what the Lord hath spoken: To morrow is the rest of the sabbath sanctified to the Lord. Whatsoever work is to be done, do it; and the meats that are to be dressed, dress them; and whatsoever shall remain, lay it up until the morning.

16:24. And they did so as Moses had commanded, and it did not putrify, neither was there worm found in it.

16:25. And Moses said: Eat it to day, because it is the sabbath of the Lord: to day it shall not be found in the field.

16:26. Gather it six days; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, therefore it shall not be found.

16:27. And the seventh day came; and some of the people going forth to gather, found none.

16:28. And the Lord said to Moses: How long will you refuse to keep my commandments, and my law?

16:29. See that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, and for this reason on the sixth day he giveth you a double provision: let each man stay at home, and let none go forth out of his place the seventh day.

16:30. And the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day.

16:31. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste thereof like to flour with honey.

16:32. And Moses said: This is the word which the Lord hath commanded: Fill a gomor of it, and let it be kept unto generations to come hereafter; that they may know the bread, wherewith I fed you in the wilderness when you were brought forth out of the land of Egypt.

16:33. And Moses said to Aaron: Take a vessel, and put manna into it, as much as a gomor can hold; and lay it up before the Lord, to keep unto your generations,

16:34. As the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron put it in the tabernacle to be kept.

16:35. And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land: with this meat were they fed, until they reached the borders of the land of Chanaan.

16:36. Now a gomor is the tenth part of an ephi.

Exodus Chapter 17

The people murmur again for want of drink; the Lord giveth them water out of a rock. Moses lifting up his hand in prayer, Amalec is overcome.

17:1. Then all the multitude of the children of Israel setting forward from the desert of Sin, by their mansions, according to the word of the Lord, encamped in Raphidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

17:2. And they chode with Moses, and said: Give us water, that we may drink. And Moses answered them: Why chide you with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord?

17:3. So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and murmured against Moses, saying: Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?

17:4. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more and they will stone me.

17:5. And the Lord said to Moses: Go before the people, and take with thee of the ancients of Israel: and take in thy hand the rod wherewith thou didst strike the river, and go.

17:6. Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock Horeb, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. Moses did so before the ancients of Israel:

17:7. And he called the name of that place Temptation, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and for that they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord amongst us or not?

17:8. And Amalec came, and fought against Israel in Raphidim.

17:9. And Moses said to Josue: Choose out men; and go out and fight against Amalec: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, having the rod of God in my hand.

17:10. Josue did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalec; but Moses, and Aaron, and Hur, went up upon the top of the hill.

17:11. And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame; but if he let them down a little, Amalec overcame.

17:12. And Moses’s hands were heavy: so they took a stone, and put under him, and he sat on it: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands on both sides. And it came to pass, that his hands were not weary until sunset.

17:13. And Josue put Amalec and his people to flight, by the edge of the sword.

17:14. And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a book, and deliver it to the ears of Josue; for I will destroy the memory of Amalec from under heaven.

17:15. And Moses built an altar; and called the name thereof, The Lord, my exaltation, saying:

17:16. Because the hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of the Lord shall be against Amalec, from generation to generation.

Exodus Chapter 18

Jethro bringeth to Moses his wife and children. His counsel.

18:1. And when Jethro the priest of Madian, the kinsman of Moses, had heard all the things that God had done to Moses, and to Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought forth Israel out of Egypt:

18:2. He took Sephora, the wife of Moses, whom he had sent back:

18:3. And her two sons, of whom one was called Gersam: his father saying, I have been a stranger in a foreign country.

18:4. And the other Eliezer: For the God of my father, said he, is my helper, and hath delivered me from the sword of Pharao.

18:5. And Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, came with his sons, and his wife to Moses into the desert, where he was camped by the mountain of God.

18:6. And he sent word to Moses, saying: I Jethro, thy kinsman, come to thee, and thy wife, and thy two sons with her.

18:7. And he went out to meet his kinsman, and worshipped and kissed him: and they saluted one another with words of peace. And when he was come into the tent,

18:8. Moses told his kinsman all that the Lord had done to Pharao, and the Egyptians in favour of Israel: and all the labour which had befallen them in the journey, and that the Lord had delivered them.

18:9. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good things that the Lord had done to Israel, because he had delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians.

18:10. And he said: Blessed is the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of Pharao, and out of the hand of Egypt.

18:11. Now I know, that the Lord is great above all gods; because he hath delivered his people out of the hand of the Egyptians, who dealt proudly against them.

18:12. So Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, offered holocausts and sacrifices to God: and Aaron and all the ancients of Israel came, to eat bread with him before God.

18:13. And the next day Moses sat to judge the people, who stood by Moses from morning until night.

18:14. And when his kinsman had seen all things that he did among the people, he said: What is it that thou dost among the people? Why sittest thou alone, and all the people wait from morning till night?

18:15. And Moses answered him: The people come to me to seek the judgment of God?

18:16. And when any controversy falleth out among them, they come to me to judge between them, and to shew the precepts of God, and his laws.

18:17. But he said: The thing thou dost is not good.

18:18. Thou art spent with foolish labour, both thou, and this people that is with thee; the business is above thy strength, thou alone canst not bear it.

18:19. But hear my words and counsels, and God shall be with thee. Be thou to the people in those things that pertain to God, to bring their words to him:

18:20. And to shew the people the ceremonies, and the manner of worshipping; and the way wherein they ought to walk, and the work that they ought to do.

18:21. And provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, in whom there is truth, and that hate avarice, and appoint of them rulers of thousands, and of hundreds, and of fifties, and of tens,

18:22. Who may judge the people at all times: and when any great matter soever shall fall out, let them refer it to thee, and let them judge the lesser matters only: that so it may be lighter for thee, the burden being shared out unto others.

18:23. If thou dost this, thou shalt fulfil the commandment of God, and shalt be able to bear his precepts: and all this people shall return to their places with peace.

18:24. And when Moses heard this, he did all things that he had suggested unto him.

18:25. And choosing able men out of all Israel, he appointed them rulers of the people, rulers over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens.

18:26. And they judged the people at all times: and whatsoever was of greater difficulty they referred to him, and they judged the easier cases only.

18:27. And he let his kinsman depart: and he returned and went into his own country.

Exodus Chapter 19

They come to Sinai: the people are commanded to be sanctified. The Lord, coming in thunder and lightning, speaketh with Moses.

19:1. In the third month of the departure of Israel out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai: