Exodus 14:14
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
King James Version
World English Bible (WEB)
Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.”
American Standard Version (ASV)
Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
TrustPeace AnxiousSeeking Strength
What this verse means
Trapped at the Red Sea, Israel is told: the Lord will fight for you; be still.
A closer look at Exodus 14:14
The setting is one of the most claustrophobic moments in Scripture. Days out of Egypt, Israel is pinned between Pharaoh's chariots and the Red Sea, and the people have already decided they are dead: “It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians.” Moses' answer is spoken before the sea opens, into full panic — which is what gives it force. The verb “hold your peace” means to stop: the people's contribution to their rescue is to quit contributing. Within hours the sea splits, and Exodus 15 turns the event into the Bible's first recorded song — the founding picture of God as Israel's defender.
The verse is often flattened into a rule that faithful people never act. The very next verse refuses that reading: “speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” Stillness was the assignment for one trapped night; movement was the assignment at dawn. This is not permission to skip the doctor, the difficult conversation, or the job application; it addresses the moment when you have done what is yours to do and the outcome is out of your hands. Nor does it promise rescue on our timetable — Israel spent that night certain the promise had failed. Used honestly, it is a verse for the ceiling-staring hours: it separates panic, which is yours to release, from the battle, which was never yours to fight.
A short prayer
Lord, fight for me where I cannot fight. Teach me the strength of being still.
Read in context — Exodus 14
12Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
13And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
14The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
15And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
16But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
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