Exodus 15:6-16

6 Your strong right hand, God, shimmers with power; your strong right hand shatters the enemy.
7 In your mighty majesty you smash your upstart enemies, You let loose your hot anger and burn them to a crisp.
8 At a blast from your nostrils the waters piled up; Tumbling streams dammed up, wild oceans curdled into a swamp.
9 The enemy spoke, "I'll pursue, I'll hunt them down, I'll divide up the plunder, I'll glut myself on them; I'll pull out my sword, my fist will send them reeling."
10 You blew with all your might and the sea covered them. They sank like a lead weight in the majestic waters.
11 Who compares with you among gods, O God? Who compares with you in power, in holy majesty, In awesome praises, wonder-working God?
12 You stretched out your right hand and the Earth swallowed them up.
13 But the people you redeemed, you led in merciful love; You guided them under your protection to your holy pasture.
14 When people heard, they were scared; Philistines writhed and trembled;
15 Yes, even the head men in Edom were shaken, and the big bosses in Moab. Everybody in Canaan panicked and fell faint.
16 Dread and terror sent them reeling. Before your brandished right arm they were struck dumb like a stone,

Exodus 15:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 15

This chapter contains the song of Moses, and of the children of Israel, on the banks of the Red sea; in which they celebrate their passage through it, the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in it, and the glory of the divine perfections displayed therein, interspersed with prophetic hints of things future, Ex 15:1-19 which same song was sung by the women, with Miriam at the head of them, attended with timbrels and dances, Ex 15:20,21, an account is given of the march of the children of Israel from the Red sea to the wilderness of Shur, and of the bitter waters found at Marah, which occasioned a murmuring, and of their being made sweet by casting a tree into them, Ex 15:22-25 when they were told by the Lord, that if they would yield obedience to his commandments, they should be free from the diseases the Egyptians had been afflicted with, Ex 15:26, and the chapter is concluded with their coming to Elim, where they found twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees, and there encamped, Ex 15:27.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.