Exodus 13

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

Yahweh said to Moses/me,

2 Hallow to me every firstborn, that which any female first beareth among the sons of Israel, among men and among beasts, —mine! it is.

“Set apart all the firstborn males in order that they may belong to me. The firstborn males of the Israeli people and of their animals will be mine.”

3 And Moses said unto the people—[Ye are] to remember this day, on which ye came forth out of Egypt out of the house of slaves, that with strength of hand, did Yahweh bring you forth from hence, —there shall not, therefore be eaten anything leavened.

Moses/I said to the people, “Do not forget this day! This is the day that you are leaving Egypt. This is the day you [are freed from] being their slaves. Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt by his great power [MTY]. Do not eat any bread that has yeast in it [whenever you celebrate] this day.

4 To-day, are, ye, coming forth, —in the month Abib.

You are leaving Egypt on this day, which is the first day of the month that is [named] Abib.

5 And it shall be, when Yahweh shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite, and the Hivite and the Jebusite, which he sware to thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, then shalt thou serve with this service, in this month.

Later, when Yahweh brings you into the land where the descendants of Canaan, Heth, Amor, Hiv, and Jebus [now live], the land that he solemnly promised to give to you, a land that will be very good for raising livestock and growing crops [MTY], you must celebrate this festival during this month [every year].

6 Seven days, shalt thou eat unleavened cakes, —and on the seventh day, [shall be] a festival to Yahweh.

For seven days the bread that you eat must not have any yeast in it. On the seventh day there must be a festival to [honor] Yahweh.

7 Unleavened cakes, shall be eaten for the seven days, —neither shall there be seen with thee anything leavened, nor shall there be seen with thee leaven, within any of thy bounds,

For seven days do not eat bread that has yeast in it. You should not have any yeast or bread made with yeast anywhere in your land.

8 And thou shalt tell thy son, on that day, saying, —[This is] because, of that which Yahweh did for me, when he brought me forth out of Egypt.

On the day [the festival starts], you must tell your children, ‘[We are doing this to remember] what Yahweh did for our ancestors when they left Egypt.

9 And it shall be to thee for a sign upon thy hand and for a memorial between thine eyes, in order that the law of Yahweh may be in thy mouth, —for with a strong hand, did Yahweh bring thee forth out of Egypt.

This ritual will remind you how Yahweh brought your ancestors out of Egypt with his great power [MTY]. [The ritual will be like something] you tie on your forehead or on your wrist. It will remind you to recite to others what Yahweh has instructed you.

10 So shalt thou observe this statute in its appointed time, —from year to year.

So you must celebrate this festival every year at the time [Yahweh] has appointed.’

11 And it shall be when Yahweh shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, as he sware to thee and to thy fathers, —and shalt give it thee,

Yahweh will bring you into the land where the descendants of Canaan live, just as he promised you and your ancestors that he would do. When he gives that land to you,

12 that thou shalt set apart whatsoever is born first, to Yahweh; and, of all firstlings of beasts which thou shalt have, the males, shall pertain to Yahweh.

you must dedicate to Yahweh the firstborn males of all your animals. These all will belong to Yahweh.

13 But every firstling of an ass, shalt thou redeem with a lamb or if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck, —but every firstborn of men among thy sons, shalt thou redeem.

You may keep the firstborn male donkeys, but you must buy them back by sacrificing a lamb as a substitute for the donkey. If you do not want to buy back the donkey, you must [kill it by] breaking its neck. You must also buy back every one of your own firstborn sons.

14 And it shall be when thy son shall ask thee in time to come, saying, What is this? Then shalt thou say unto him: With strength of hand, did Yahweh bring us forth out of Egypt out of the house of slaves.

In the future, when one of your children asks, ‘What does this mean?’, you must say to him, ‘Yahweh brought our ancestors out of Egypt with his great power [MTY], and freed us from being slaves there.

15 And it came to pass when Pharaoh had shown himself too hardened to let us go, then did Yahweh slay every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of men even unto the firstborn of beasts. For this cause, am, I, sacrificing to Yahweh whatsoever is born first, of the males, and every firstborn of my sons, must I redeem.

The king of Egypt stubbornly refused to let them leave his country, so Yahweh killed all the firstborn males in Egypt, both the boys and the firstborn of their livestock. That is why we now sacrifice to Yahweh all the firstborn of our livestock, but we buy back our own firstborn sons.’

16 And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes, —that, with strength of hand, did Yahweh bring us forth out of Egypt.

I repeat that this ritual will remind you about how Yahweh brought our [ancestors] out of Egypt by his great power [MTY]; it will be like something you tie on your wrist or on your forehead [to remind you of that].”

17 And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead by the land-way of the Philistines, although it was near, —for God said—Lest the people be dismayed when they see war and turn back to Egypt.

When the king [of Egypt] let the [Israeli] people go, God did not lead them to go through the land of the Philistines. That was a shorter way, but God said, “It would be bad if my people change their minds when they realize that they will have to fight [the Philistines to take their land], and then [decide to] return to Egypt.”

18 So God took the people round the desert-way of the Red Sea, —and the sons of Israel went up armed, out of the land of Egypt.

Instead, God led them to go around through the desert toward the Red Sea (OR, the Gulf of Suez). When the Israeli people left Egypt, they were carrying weapons to fight [their enemies].

19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph, with him, —for he had, taken an oath, of the sons of Israel saying, God will, surely visit, you, so then ye shall carry up my bones from hence with you.

Moses/I [had them] take along the bones of Joseph with them/us, because Joseph long ago had made the Israeli people promise solemnly that they would do that. He had said to them, “God will enable your descendants to leave Egypt. When that happens, you must carry my bones with you.”

20 And they brake up from Succoth, —and encamped in Etham, at the edge of the desert.

The Israeli people left Succoth and traveled to Etham, at the edge of the desert, and they set up their tents there.

21 Now, Yahweh, was going before them—by day, in a pillar of cloud to lead them the way, and by night, in a pillar of fire to give them light, —that they might journey day and night:

[When they traveled] during the daytime, Yahweh went in front of them in a tall [white] cloud to show them the way. During the night, he went in front of them in a tall cloud that looked like a fire. By doing that, he enabled them to travel in the daytime and also at nighttime.

22 the pillar of cloud by day ceased not, nor the pillar of fire by night, —from before the people.

The tall cloud did not leave them. It was always in front of them, as a bright white cloud in the daytime and like a fire at night.