The people of Israel had left Egypt. An immense multitude marched through the desert, guided by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. At last they were free.

But God did not lead them by the shortest route. The most direct road to Canaan passed through the land of the Philistines, a warlike people, and God said: "Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt." Instead, God led them by the way of the wilderness, toward the Red Sea. They camped by the sea, at a place called Pi-hahiroth.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, Pharaoh's heart changed. He and his servants said:

"What have we done, letting Israel go and lose their service?"

Pharaoh made his chariot ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he pursued the children of Israel.

The Egyptian army, with horses, chariots, horsemen, and troops, set out after Israel. It was the most powerful army in the known world of that time, chasing runaway slaves.

The Israelites, camped by the sea, lifted their eyes and saw the Egyptians marching after them. They were very afraid and cried out to the Lord.

They said to Moses, in anger and despair:

"Were there no graves in Egypt, that you brought us out to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not what we told you there: 'Leave us alone to serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!"

The people were terrified. Behind them, the most powerful army in the world. Ahead, the Red Sea, an impossible mass of water. On either side, mountains. They were trapped, with no way out. It seemed like the end. It seemed their freedom would last only a few days, and that God had brought them out of Egypt only to die in the desert.

But Moses answered the people:

What extraordinary faith. Moses saw no humanly possible way out, but he knew God. And he knew that God had not brought them out of Egypt to abandon them now.

The Lord said to Moses:

"Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. And you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, that the children of Israel may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground."

Dividing the sea seemed impossible. But God is the God of the impossible.

The Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them, placing itself between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.

On the Egyptian side, the cloud was darkness. On Israel's side, it lit up the night. All through the night, neither could come near the other. God was protecting his people: the cloud formed a barrier, and the Egyptians could not advance.

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land.

The waters stood like walls to the right and to the left, opening a path through the middle of the sea. The seabed was dry, not mud or wet sand, but firm ground where people could walk. God was opening a way where there was no way.

The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on dry ground. That whole multitude, with their flocks and their belongings, crossed the Red Sea walking on firm land.

The children gazed in wonder at the walls of water on the right and on the left. The grown-ups marched quickly, knowing they had to cross while God held the waters apart. The people who moments before had been in despair now marched to freedom along the path God had opened.

When dawn came, the Egyptians saw the path open in the sea. Pharaoh gave the order:

"After them!"

The Egyptians pursued them. All Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them into the middle of the sea.

In the morning watch, the Lord, from the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian camp and threw it into confusion. He clogged their chariot wheels and made their advance heavy.

The Egyptians began to be afraid:

"Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians!"

But it was too late. They were in the middle of the sea.

The Lord said to Moses:

"Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen."

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. At daybreak, the sea returned to its full strength, and the Egyptians, as they fled, ran straight into the waters.

But the children of Israel walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

That day, the Lord saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work the Lord had done against the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord, and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

God had opened the sea for his people to pass. He had protected Israel from the Egyptians and destroyed the most powerful army in the world. The people who had been afraid and complained now praised God. Moses and the children of Israel sang a song to the Lord:

The crossing of the Red Sea was one of the greatest miracles in history. It showed that God can do the impossible, that he delivers his people, and that when all seems lost, God can open a way. Israel would never forget that day, and future generations would tell this story to their children: how God divided the Red Sea and saved his people.