Canticle One – The (First) Song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-19)
When he had drowned Pharao in the deep, Moses said, Let us
sing unto the Lord, for He is gloriously glorified.
“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
The LORD is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.
“Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea; his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power– your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries; you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble.
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.
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.’
10You blew with your wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them.
“In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed; you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
The peoples heard, they trembled; pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
For 8 verses
Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; trembling seized the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.
Terror and dread fell upon them; by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone,
For 6 verses
until your people, O LORD, passed by, until the people whom you acquired passed by.
You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession, the place, O LORD, that you made your abode, the sanctuary, O LORD, that your hands have established.
For 4 verses
The LORD will reign forever and ever.”
When the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his chariot drivers went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.