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Read along
as you listen to the story!
The children of Israel had
lived in Egypt for 430 years. After Joseph died, there arose
a ruler who did not remember how kind Joseph had been, and
the people of Israel became slaves to the Egyptians.
Ten plagues had been sent on
the Egyptians so that Pharaoh would let the Israelites be
free.
In the last plague that came
upon them, the firstborn of every Egyptian family died.
Pharaoh finally agreed to let them go.
But when he realized that he
was losing all his slaves, he decided to go and bring them
back. He took his soldiers and 600 of the best chariots
along with all the chariots in Egypt.
The Israelites were afraid
when they saw the chariots coming. The Red Sea was in front
of them, and the Egyptians were following behind them. There
seemed to be no escape.
Moses told them, " The Lord
will fight for you. You need only to be still."
God told Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand
over the sea to divide it, and the children of Israel could
cross.
The angel of the Lord moved
from in front of the Israelites to a place behind them. The
cloud also moved. It was light on Israel's side, and dark on
the Egyptian's side.
And Moses stretched out his
hand over the sea. All that night the Lord caused an east
wind to blow. The Israelites went through the sea on dry
ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their
left.
The Egyptians ran after them
and followed them into the sea. They saw the Israelites
crossing on dry land, and they thought they could, too.
The people of Israel all got
across to the other side. Then the Egyptian army became
confused and the wheels started coming off the chariots.
They could not overtake the Israelites.
The water came crashing down
on the soldiers, and they were all lost in the sea.
Moses sang a song of praise to God for the great blessing
that had come to his people that day.
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