You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.
Parallel translations
- WEB You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.
- KJV And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
- NKJV And You divided the sea before them, So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; And their persecutors You threw into the deep, As a stone into the mighty waters.
- NASB “You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And You hurled their pursuers into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters.
- NLT You divided the sea for your people so they could walk through on dry land! And then you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea. They sank like stones beneath the mighty waters.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God parted the sea so Israel crossed on dry land while their pursuers sank like a stone. It matters as the climactic act of redemption from Egypt.
Overview
The dividing of the sea delivered Israel and destroyed the Egyptian army, the defining picture of God's saving power in the Old Testament. Salvation and judgment meet in a single act. This deliverance through water prefigures baptism and the redemption Christ secures, leading his people safely through judgment into new life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 78:13He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
- Exod 14:21–22Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,
- Exod 14:27–28So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea.
- Ps 114:3–5The sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back;
- Heb 11:29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
- Isa 63:11–13Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them,
- Ps 66:6He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
- Ps 106:9–11He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
- Ps 136:13–15He divided the Red Sea in two His loving devotion endures forever.
- Exod 15:1–21Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
- Rev 18:21Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 9:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.