Exodus 13:17-18
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17It happened, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn`t lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt;" 18but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
Exodus 13:17-18 (WEB)