Study Desk

The Lord said to Moses: I am going to punish the king of Egypt and his people one more time. Then the king will gladly let you leave his land, so that I will stop punishing the Egyptians. He will even chase you out.

So the Lord made the Egyptians greatly respect the Israelites, and everyone, including the king and his officials, considered Moses an important leader.

and wherever he goes, the first-born son in every family will die. Your own son will die, and so will the son of the lowest slave woman. Even the first-born males of cattle will die.

But there won't be any need for the Israelites to cry. Things will be so quiet that not even a dog will be heard barking. Then you Egyptians will know that the Lord is good to the Israelites, even while he punishes you.

So the king of Egypt saw Moses and Aaron work miracles, but the Lord made him stubbornly refuse to let the Israelites leave his country.

So the Israelites quickly made some bread dough and put it in pans. But they did not mix any yeast in the dough to make it rise. They wrapped cloth around the pans and carried them on their shoulders.

They left Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have time to prepare any food except the bread dough made without yeast. So they baked it and made thin bread.

The king stubbornly refused to set us free, so the Lord killed the first-born male of every animal and the first-born son of every Egyptian family. This is why we sacrifice to the Lord every first-born male of every animal and save every first-born son."

So he led them around through the desert and toward the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt, prepared for battle.

The Lord made the king so stubborn that he went after them, even though the Israelites proudly went on their way.

I will make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will go after you. Then I will be praised because of what happens to the king and his chariots and cavalry.

Their chariot wheels got stuck, and it was hard for them to move. So the Egyptians said to one another, "Let's leave these people alone! The Lord is on their side and is fighting against us."

But the sea had made a wall of water on each side of the Israelites; so they walked through on dry land.

You were so furious that the sea piled up like a wall, and the ocean depths curdled like cheese.

Miriam the sister of Aaron was a prophet. So she took her tambourine and led the other women out to play their tambourines and to dance.

Moses asked the Lord for help, and the Lord told him to throw a piece of wood into the water. Moses did so, and the water became fit to drink. At Marah the Lord tested his people and also gave them some laws and teachings.

Later the Israelites came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees. So they camped there.

he told them that the Lord had said, "Tomorrow is the Sabbath, a sacred day of rest in honor of me. So gather all you want to bake or boil, and make sure you save enough for tomorrow."

And so they rested on the Sabbath.

The people had complained and tested the Lord by asking, "Is the Lord really with us?" So Moses named that place Massah, which means "testing" and Meribah, which means "complaining."