1 You remained angry with those worthless Egyptians and kept punishing them without mercy, because you already knew
2 how they would change their minds and chase your people, after hurriedly setting them free.
3 As a matter of fact, they made this foolish decision even before they had finished mourning for their dead. Then they started pursuing those very people they had begged and even forced to leave.
4 They were urged on by the destruction they deserved, and it made them forget what had already happened, so that they would be fully punished
5 by dying an unusual death and so that your people would have an amazing journey.
6 At your command the laws of nature were changed to protect your children from harm.
7 A cloud guided them, and dry land appeared like a field of grass in the middle of the Red Sea,
8 so that your people could see wonderful miracles and pass safely through under your protection.
9 They were like horses on an open range or like lambs leaping around, as they praised you for saving them.
10 And they still remembered what had happened in Egypt—the land was covered with gnats instead of animals, and the rivers were filled with frogs instead of fish.
11 Later, when they were starving in the desert and begged for something delicious to eat, you provided them with a special kind of bird,
12 by sending quails from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea.
13 Those sinful Egyptians had a terrible hatred for strangers, and so you punished them horribly, but not without first warning them with violent thunderstorms.
14-16 Years earlier, the people of Sodom had refused to welcome strangers, and they were punished for what they did. But these Egyptians did much worse. They first welcomed our ancestors with a glorious celebration, and then after we had helped their nation, they made slaves of us, even though we were citizens like everyone else.
17 Those people of Sodom were struck blind, just as they reached the door of the home of that good man Lot, and they had to feel their way back through the darkness to their own homes. In the same way, these Egyptians were covered with deep darkness.
18 Different tunes can be played on the same harp, though the strings remain the same. And this is similar to what happened in those days, as can be seen from the following examples.
19 Land animals became sea creatures, and sea creatures became land animals;
20 fire kept burning, even when it was covered with water,
21 and yet its flames did not destroy the flesh of humans or melt that delicate and dainty food called manna that came down from heaven.
22 Our Lord, you have alwaysgreatly honored your people.You have never failedto help them at any timeor in any place.