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Commentary on the Book of Exodus, Chapter 15: 

After the Lord’s victory over the Egyptian army at the Red Sea, the people of God sing a song of celebration. This song introduces us to three common images of God in the Old Testament. The first and primary image is the Lord as a victorious warrior who conquers the enemies of His people and brings His people peace. The second image, presented through questions, is that God is greater than any other god. This is an important concept for people who live in a culture where it is normal to believe in many gods. Finally, we hear that the Lord will reign. This is the first time we learn that God’s role is to be the King of His people. As God’s people journey from the Red Sea, they run into the first of many challenges: lack of pure water to drink. Despite recent events, the people murmur, that is, complain, against Moses who turns to God. God’s care continues as He provides a way to purify the water and leads His people to an oasis. The symbolic numbers of three (God’s work and the divine), twelve (human fulfillment), and seventy (God’s completion) are literary reminders that God is at work, helping His people.

The Book of Exodus, Chapter 15:

The Songs of Moses and Miriam

1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, 

    “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; 
    the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 
    2 The Lord is my strength and my song, 
    and he has become my salvation; 
    this is my God, and I will praise him, 
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 
    3 The LORD is a man of war; 
    the LORD is his name. 

    4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea; 
    and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea. 
    5 The floods cover them; 
    they went down into the depths like a stone. 
    6 Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, 
    your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. 
    7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; 
    you send forth your fury, it consumes them like stubble. 
    8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up, 
    the floods stood up in a heap; 
    the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. 
    9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, 
    I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. 
    I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ 
    10 You blew with your wind, the sea covered them; 
    they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 

    11 “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? 
    Who is like you, majestic in holiness, 
    terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders? 
    12 You stretched out your right hand, 
    the earth swallowed them. 

    13 “You have led in your merciful love the people whom you have redeemed, 
    you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. 
    14 The peoples have heard, they tremble; 
    pangs have seized on the inhabitants of Philistia. 
    15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; 
    the leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them; 
    all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. 
    16 Terror and dread fall upon them; 
    because of the greatness of your arm, they are as still as a stone, 
    till your people, O LORD, pass by, 
    till the people pass by whom you have purchased. 
    17 You will bring them in, and plant them on your own mountain, 
    the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, 
    the sanctuary, O LORD, which your hands have established. 
    18 The LORD will reign for ever and ever.” 

19 For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the sons of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. 20 Then Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them: 

    “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; 
    the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.” 

Bitter Water Is Made Sweet

22 Then Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur; they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. 
There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he tested them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD, your healer.” 
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there by the water.

*Daily Lectio Divina Question:

Moses and the Israelites sang God a song of his Triumph. What is the song of Triumph that I could sing to God of my own life or of my family's life right now? Pray that song!

Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc or online.

Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.