Chapter 14:
The Israelites get to the Sea of Reeds.
They cry out to the Lord (same word used back when they originally cried out about their bondage in Egypt)
and then they complain to Moses.
They cross the Sea of Reeds; Pharoah's men are drowned.
(ד) וְחִזַּקְתִּ֣י אֶת־לֵב־פַּרְעֹה֮ וְרָדַ֣ף אַחֲרֵיהֶם֒ וְאִכָּבְדָ֤ה בְּפַרְעֹה֙ וּבְכָל־חֵיל֔וֹ וְיָדְע֥וּ מִצְרַ֖יִם כִּֽי־אֲנִ֣י יקוק וַיַּֽעֲשׂוּ־כֵֽן׃
Once again God hardens/strengthens Pharoah's heart.
In order to "gain glory."
And so that Egypt will know that God is Hashem. What about the Israelites? Don't they need to know as well?
(ח) וַיְחַזֵּ֣ק יקוק אֶת־לֵ֤ב פַּרְעֹה֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם וַיִּרְדֹּ֕ף אַחֲרֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יֹצְאִ֖ים בְּיָ֥ד רָמָֽה׃
Again with the stiffening/hardening/strengthening of Pharoah's heart.
"Defiantly" is with an upraised hand.
Sforno says:
(י) וּפַרְעֹ֖ה הִקְרִ֑יב וַיִּשְׂאוּ֩ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֨ל אֶת־עֵינֵיהֶ֜ם וְהִנֵּ֥ה מִצְרַ֣יִם ׀ נֹסֵ֣עַ אַחֲרֵיהֶ֗ם וַיִּֽירְאוּ֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַיִּצְעֲק֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶל־יקוק׃
Chapter 15:
Moses leads the Israelites in singing the Shirat HaYam / the Song of the Sea;
Miriam then leads the women in dancing and chanting at least the beginning of the song.
The text in the Torah is like bricks and there is a special melody for the song;
the congregation sings some of it.
Three days later, the Israelites grumble against Moses: no water and when they find water it is bitter.
Moses cries to the Lord (same word for cries).
The Lord shows Moses what to do
and then makes a rule and puts them to the test:
if the people obey and are good, then they won't get any Egyptian diseases
because The Lord is their healer.
The arrive at Elim.
Chapter 16:
The Israelites leave Elim and go to the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Sinai
on the 15th day of the 2nd month after they left Egypt.
The whole people grumble against Moses and Aaron.
This time it's about the fleshpots back in Egypt while now they are starving.
The Lord says he will rain down bread all day and test them:
on the 6th day the amount of bread will be double.
Moses and Aaron tell the people that they are really grumbling against the Lord,
because who are Moses and Aaron that they should be grumbled against.
So quail covers the camp in the evening
and manna appears with the dew in the morning.
People gather enough for everyone in their tents
and it turns out to be exactly an omer per person.
Even though they were told to use it up,
of course, some didn't and it was rotten the next day;
this made Moses angry.
On the 6th day, they gathered twice as much.
Moses explained to the Chieftains that the next day was the Sabbath.
The manna left over from the 6th day did not go rotten.
Moses explained that they should gather manna for 6 days and there would be none to gather on the 7th day.
Nonetheless, some went out looking for it.
This made the Lord angry and he complained about the people to Moses
and explained about the Sabbath and that people shouldn't leave their place.
The House of Israel named the bread manna.
Moses said that the Lord said that an omer of manna should be saved as reminder that
this is what the people ate when the Lord took them from Egypt.
Moses told Aaron to put some in a jar and place it before the pact.
(Rashi explains that the Pact is the tabernacle,
which hasn't been built yet,
but the Torah is not written in chronological order;
the jar of manna is mentioned here because we're talking about manna here.)
They ate manna for 40 years until they came to the border of Canaan.
BTW, an omer is 1/10th of an ephah.
Chapter 17:
From the Wilderness of Sin they traveled in stages to Rephidim.
The people quarrel with Moses because there is no water there.
Moses asks, why do you quarrel with me, why try the Lord?
The people grumble,
again with why did you take us out of Egypt, although this time it's because not only they, but also the children and livestock will die of thirst.
Moses cries to the Lord that the people will stone him.
The Lord tells Moses to take some Elders and his rod that he used to strike the Nile
and go to the rock at Horeb (another name for Sinai, says Rashi)
and strike the rock so that water will come out of it.
The place is called Masseh and Meribah because of the quarreling with Moses and the Lord.
Amalek attacks at Rephidim.
Moses tells Joshua to pick some men to fight while he (Moses) will be at the top of the hill with the rod of God.
Moses, Aaron and Hur go up the hill during the fighting.
When Moses raises his hand the Israelites prevail, when he lowers it the Amalekites do.
So they get a stone for Moses to sit on and Aaron and Hur hold up Moses' hands when he gets tired.
Joshua wins with his sword.
The Lord tells Moses to write a document and read it to Joshua:
The Lord will blot out the memory of Amalek. (This is repeated and relevant for Purim.)
Moses builds an altar and calls it Adonai-Nissi.
Chapter 18:
Jethro shows up with Zipporah and Moses' two sons, Gershon and Eliezer.
Apparently she had gone back home at some point.
Moses is encamped at the mountain of God.
Moses fills him in on what has happened.
Jethro is impressed, realizes that the Lord is greater than all the other gods, and he brings a burnt offering and sacrifices to God.
Aaron and all the Elders eat a meal before God with Jethro.
The next day Jethro sees that Moses is busy deciding every dispute that the people have.
Jethro tells him he'll wear himself out if he doesn't delegate some of this.
Moses does so and Jethro goes home.
Chapter 19:
They get ready for the Ten Commandments.
Chapter 20:
The Ten Commandments
and a bit more.
Chapter 21:
More rules: slaves, death penalty, oxen, ...
Chapter 22:
More rules: theft, loss of property, lending, ....
Chapter 23:
More rules: judging, bribery, resting the land every 7 years, the Sabbath, 3 festivals.
Good stuff will happen if you do good when you enter the land.
Chapter 24:
Moses writes down all the commandments.
They sacrifice and have a big party.
Moses goes up the mountain for 40 days and nights.