(5) When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his courtiers had a change of heart about the people and said, “What is this we have done, releasing Israel from our service?” (6) He ordered his chariot and took his men with him; (7) he took six hundred of his picked chariots, and the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in all of them. (8) The Eternal stiffened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he gave chase to the Israelites. As the Israelites were departing defiantly, (9) the Egyptians gave chase to them, and all the chariot horses of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his warriors overtook them encamped by the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. (10) As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites caught sight of the Egyptians advancing upon them. Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to the Eternal. (11) And they said to Moses, “Was it for want of graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? (12) Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us be, and we will serve the Egyptians, for it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness’?” (13) But Moses said to the people, “Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance which the Eternal will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. (14) The Eternal will battle for you; you hold your peace!” (15) Then the Eternal said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. (16) And you lift up your rod and hold out your arm over the sea and split it, so that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground. (17) And I will stiffen the hearts of the Egyptians so that they go in after them; and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his warriors, his chariots and his horsemen. (18) Let the Egyptians know that I am Eternal, when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” (19) The angel of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them, (20) and it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. Thus there was the cloud with the darkness, and it cast a spell upon the night, so that the one could not come near the other all through the night. (21) Then Moses held out his arm over the sea and the Eternal drove back the sea with a strong east wind all that night, and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, (22) and the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. (23) The Egyptians came in pursuit after them into the sea, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen. (24) At the morning watch, the Eternal looked down upon the Egyptian army from a pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. (25) He locked the wheels of their chariots so that they moved forward with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Eternal is fighting for them against Egypt.” (26) Then the Eternal said to Moses, “Hold out your arm over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians and upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.” (27) Moses held out his arm over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state, and the Egyptians fled at its approach. But the Eternal hurled the Egyptians into the sea. (28) The waters turned back and covered the chariots and the horsemen—Pharaoh’s entire army that followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. (29) But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. (30) Thus the Eternal delivered Israel that day from the Egyptians. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. (31) And when Israel saw the wondrous power which the Eternal had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared the Eternal; they had faith in the Eternal and God's servant Moses.
ויאמר ה' אל משה מה תצעק אלי, ר' יהושע אומר אמר הקב"ה למשה משה אין להם לישראל אלא ליסע בלבד. ר' אליעזר אומר אמר הקב"ה למשה משה בני נתונים בצרה הים סוגר ושונא רודף ואתה עומד ומרבה בתפלה. מה תצעק אלי שהיה אומר יש שעה לקצר ויש שעה להאריך, אל נא רפא נא לה (במדבר יב) הרי זה לקצר ואתנפל לפני ה' כראשונה ארבעים יום (דברים ט) הרי זה להאריך. ר' מאיר אומר אם לאדם יחידי עשיתי לו ים יבשה שנאמר ויאמר אלהים יקוו המים (בראשית א) ולעדת קדושים אלו איני עושה להם את הים יבשה. מה תצעק אלי דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו ר' ישמעאל אומר מה תצעק אלי, בזכות ירושלם אני אקרע להם את הים שנ' עורי עורי לבשי עוזך ציון לבשי בגדי תפארתך ירושלים עיר הקדש כי לא יוסיף יבא בך עוד ערל וטמא (ישעיה נב) ואומר עורי עורי לבשי עוז זרוע ה' עורי כימי קדם דורות עולמים הלא את היא המחצבת רהב מחוללת תנין הלא את היא המחרבת ים מי תהום רבה השמה מעמקי ים דרך לעבור גאולים (שם נא). ד"א בשביל הבטחה שהבטיחום אבותיהם אני אקרע לכם את הים שנ' והיה זרעך כעפר הארץ ופרצת ימה וקדמה (בראשית כח). ר' יהודה בן בתירה אומר אמר לו הקב"ה כבר עשיתי הבטחה שהבטחתי אברהם אביכם שנ' וישם את הים לחרבה:
(Exodus 14:15) "And the Eternal said to Moses: Why do you cry out to Me?" R. Yehoshua says: The Holy One Blessed be said to Moses: "Moses, all that Israel has to do is to go forward. R. Eliezer says: The Holy One Blessed be said to Moses: Moses, My children are in trouble. The sea is raging and the foe is pursuing and you stand and prolong your prayers? For R. Eliezer was wont to say: There is a time to prolong (prayer) and a time to shorten. (Numbers 12:13) "God, I pray You, hear her" — to shorten. (Devarim 9:18) "And I fell down before the Eternal (in prayer) as at first, forty days and forty nights" — to prolong.