He turned the sea into dry land; They went through the river on foot. There we will rejoice in Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the river on foot. There, we rejoiced in him.
- KJV He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him.
- BSB He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
- NASB He turned the sea into dry land; They passed through the river on foot; Let’s rejoice there, in Him!
- NLT He made a dry path through the Red Sea, and his people went across on foot. There we rejoiced in him.
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 turned the sea into dry land so His people crossed on foot, prompting rejoicing. It recalls the Exodus deliverance as cause for joy.
Overview
This verse recalls the crossing of the Red Sea and likely the Jordan, when God made a way through the waters for His people. Past redemption fuels present worship. These deliverances prefigure the greater exodus from sin and death won through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Josh 3:16the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho.
- Exod 14:21–22Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
- Exod 15:1–21Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
- Josh 3:14When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people,
- Ps 78:13He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap.
- Ps 136:13–14To him who divided the Red Sea apart; for his loving kindness endures forever;
- Ps 106:8–12Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power known.
- Rev 15:2–3I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
- Ps 104:5–7He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
- Isa 63:13–14Who led them through the depths, like a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn’t stumble?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 66:6 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.