Exodus 13

1 Yahweh said to Moses/me,

Then the LORD said to Moses,

2 “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.”

“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”

3 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.

So Moses told the people, “Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for the LORD brought you out of it by the strength of His hand. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.

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

Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving.

5 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].

And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you shall keep this service in this month.

6 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.

For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.

7 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.

Unleavened bread shall be eaten during those seven days. Nothing leavened may be found among you, nor shall leaven be found anywhere within your borders.

8 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.

And on that day you are to explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

9 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.

It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.

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

Therefore you shall keep this statute at the appointed time year after year.

11 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,

And after the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as He swore to you and your fathers,

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

you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.

13 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.

You must redeem every firstborn donkey with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. And every firstborn of your sons you must redeem.

14 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.

In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

15 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.’

And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’

16 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].”

So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

17 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.”

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

18 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].

So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle.

19 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.”

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn oath when he said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from this place.”

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

They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.

21 [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.

And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.

22 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.

Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place before the people.