The Song at the Sea
(Judges 5:1–31)

1Then Moses sang—and the sons of Israel—this song to YHWH, and they spoke, saying:

“I will sing to YHWH,

for He has greatly triumphed;

the horse and its rider

He has thrown into the sea.

2My strength and song is YAH,

and He has become my salvation.

This is my God, and I will praise Him,

God of My father, and I will exalt Him.

3YHWH is a man of war;

YHWH is His name.

4The chariots of Pharaoh and his army

He has cast into the sea,

and the choice of his captains

are sunk in the Red Sea.†

5The depths cover them;

they went down into the depths like a stone.

6Your right hand, O YHWH,

is glorious in power.

Your right hand, O YHWH,

shatters the enemy.

7And in the greatness of Your excellence

You overthrow those rising against You.

You send forth Your burning anger;

it consumes them like stubble.

8And by the breath of Your nostrils

the waters were gathered together;

the flowing waters stood upright like a heap;

the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

9The enemy said,

‘I will pursue, I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my soul shall be filled with them.

I will draw my sword;

my hand shall destroy them.’

10You blew with Your breath;

the sea covered them;

they sank like lead

in mighty waters.

11Who is like You among the gods, O YHWH?

Who is like You, majestic in holiness,

fearful in praises,

doing wonders?

12You stretched out Your right hand;

the earth swallowed them.

13You have led forth in Your loving devotion†

the people whom You have redeemed;

You have guided them in Your strength

to Your holy habitation.

14Peoples heard; they are troubled.

Anguish seized those dwelling in Philistia.

15Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; the mighty men of Moab;

trembling seized them;

all those dwelling in Canaan melted away.

16Fear and dread will fall on them;

by the greatness of Your arm

they will be as still as a stone,

until Your people pass over, O YHWH,

until the people whom You have purchased pass over.

17You will bring them in and plant them

in the mountain of Your inheritance—

the place for Your own dwelling, which You have made, O YHWH,

the sanctuary, O Lord, that Your hands have established.

18YHWH shall reign forever and ever.”

19For the horses of Pharaoh went in, with his chariots and with his horsemen, into the sea, and YHWH brought back upon them the waters of the sea, and the sons of Israel walked on the dry land in the midst of the sea.

20And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21And Miriam answered them,

“Sing to YHWH,

for He has greatly triumphed;

the horse and its rider

He has thrown into the sea.”

The Waters of Marah

22And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23And they came to Marah,† and they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. (Upon thus its name was called Marah.)

24And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25And he cried out to YHWH, and YHWH showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.

There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them. 26And He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of YHWH your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and you give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes; all of the diseases that I have brought on Egypt I will not put on you, for I am YHWH who heals you.”

27And they came to Elim, and there were two and ten wells of water and seventy palm trees. And they camped there by the waters.