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Exodus 15

Israel praises YHWH who defeated Pharaoh, then faces thirst and a test of obedience under that same God’s care.

Moses and the children of Israel sing to YHWH after Pharaoh’s army sinks in the sea. Their song celebrates God’s victory, his holiness, and his rule, then looks ahead to the dwelling place where he will bring his people. Miriam leads the women with tambourines and dancing. Three days into the wilderness, Israel finds no water, then bitter water at Marah. Moses cries to God, who makes the water sweet and tests the people before they reach Elim.

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1Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.
2The LORD is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3The LORD is a man of war. The LORD is his name.
4He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea. His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
5The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone.
6Your right hand, LORD, is glorious in power. Your right hand, LORD, dashes the enemy in pieces.
7In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you. You send out your wrath. It consumes them as stubble.
8With the blast of your nostrils, the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
9The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder. My desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’
10You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11Who is like you, LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
12You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them.
13“You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.
14The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.
15Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone, until your people pass over, LORD, until the people you have purchased pass over.
17You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, LORD, which you have made for yourself to dwell in: the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.
18The LORD will reign forever and ever.”
19For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.
20Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances.
21Miriam answered them, “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.”
22Moses led Israel onward 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.
23When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah.
25Then he cried to the LORD. The LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them.
26He said, “If you will diligently listen to the LORD your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”
27They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They encamped there by the waters.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Exodus 15:2The song names YHWH as Israel’s strength and salvation, giving him the praise for their escape.
Exodus 15:11This question declares YHWH’s unmatched holiness and power at the heart of Israel’s victory song.
Exodus 15:26At Marah, God joins his promise of protection from Egypt’s diseases to Israel’s obedience and names himself their healer.
Where this chapter reaches

Psalm and Isaiah share the song’s language of God as strength, song, and salvation, linking praise to his saving acts. Revelation names the song of Moses alongside the song of the Lamb and shares Exodus 15’s praise of God’s holiness and unmatched greatness.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about the God Israel praises in this song?

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How does the move from singing at the sea to thirst at Marah shape your reading?

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Questions people ask about Exodus 15

Does Exodus 15:26 promise that believers will never get sick?

The promise addresses Israel at Marah and concerns the diseases God had brought on the Egyptians. It is tied to hearing his voice and keeping his commands. The verse identifies YHWH as Israel’s healer; it does not state that every believer will avoid illness or that every illness proves disobedience.

Why did Moses throw a tree into the water at Marah?

YHWH showed Moses a tree after Moses cried out about the bitter water. Moses threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. The account names no tree species and explains no natural process. Its focus is God’s provision and the testing of Israel at that place.

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What the Bible says about worship →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).