Exodus 15

1 Then 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.

2 The 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.

3 The LORD is a man of war. The LORD is his name.

4 He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea. His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.

5 The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone.

6 Your right hand, LORD, is glorious in power. Your right hand, LORD, dashes the enemy in pieces.

7 In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you. You send out your wrath. It consumes them as stubble.

8 With 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.

9 The 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.’

10 You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

11 Who is like you, LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

12 You 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.

14 The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.

15 Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

16 Terror 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.

17 You 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.

18 The LORD will reign forever and ever.”

19 For 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.

20 Miriam 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.

21 Miriam answered them, “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.”

22 Moses 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.

23 When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah.

24 The people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

25 Then 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.

26 He 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.”

27 They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They encamped there by the waters.

Around Exodus 15

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Exodus 15 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The people who were crying out in fear two days ago are now singing. “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously.” The song of Moses and Israel tells the story again in poetry: the horse and rider thrown into the sea, the deeps covering the chariots like a stone, the right hand of the LORD glorious in power. It asks, “Who is like you, LORD, among the gods?” and looks ahead to the nations trembling and God's people planted in his holy place.

Miriam the prophetess takes up a tambourine, and the women follow her with dancing.

Then the road resumes. Three days without water, then Marah, where the water is bitter. The people complain. God shows Moses a tree, and the water turns sweet. They come to Elim, with twelve springs and seventy palm trees.

Background

The Song of the Sea is among the oldest poetry in the Bible, and many scholars think it may be very early, though that is debated. It has shaped Jewish and Christian worship ever since (see Revelation 15, where a similar song appears). Miriam is the first woman called a prophetess in the Bible. The second half of the chapter is a reminder that deliverance did not end the hardship: the same people who sang soon complained. That pattern runs through the wilderness stories that follow in Exodus 16 and 17.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 22 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes