Exodus 15King James Version
Moses and the children of Israel sing the song of the sea, one of the oldest songs in the Hebrew Bible. Miriam the prophetess takes a timbrel and the women dance. Three days later they are in the wilderness with no water. They come to a place where the water is bitter, and the Lord shows Moses a tree that, cast into the water, makes it sweet.
Moses and the Israelites sing the Song of the Sea, a poem celebrating God's victory over Pharaoh: the horse and rider thrown into the sea, the waters congealed, enemies sinking like lead. Miriam leads the women in dance and refrain. Then three days into the wilderness they find only bitter water at Marah and complain. God shows Moses a tree that sweetens the water when cast in. They move on to Elim, with twelve wells and seventy palms.
Worship and complaint live in the same chapter because honest faith does both; the song of triumph and the muttering over bitter water are both offered to the same God.
v11: "Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" -- a question the entire sequence of plagues and the sea crossing have already answered.
The Sinai wilderness, east coast of the Red Sea, probably Sharm el-Sheikh region. The people have just seen an army destroyed. Now they walk. Shur is a featureless desert. Three days without fresh water in desert heat is a medical emergency. The bitter water at Marah may refer to alkaline or mineral-heavy springs still found in this region.
Moses leads the poetic song, one of the oldest Hebrew texts in the Bible; Miriam is named prophetess and leads the women in dance and antiphonal singing; the community transitions from singing to complaining within days; God responds to both without rebuke.
The Song of the Sea is widely regarded as among the oldest poetry in the Hebrew Bible. It became part of Jewish morning prayer liturgy. Revelation 15 has the redeemed singing 'the song of Moses' in heaven. The Marah episode introduces the covenant-health promise of verse 26 and the tree that sweetens bitter water, read by many as a foreshadowing of the cross.
For when the high of a great deliverance has faded faster than you expected and now the ordinary problems have returned and you feel almost embarrassed by how quickly you moved from gratitude to complaint. It takes three days.
1Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
2The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
3The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
4Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
5The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
6Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
7And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
8And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
9The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
10Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
11Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
12Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
13Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
14The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
15Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
16Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
17Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
18The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.
19For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
20And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
21And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
22So 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 when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
24And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
25And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
26And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
27And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.