Exodus 13

1 Yahweh said to Moses/me,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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.”

Sanctify to me every first-born, first produced, opening every womb among the children of Israel both of man and beast: it is mine.

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.

And Moses said to the people, Remember this day, in which ye came forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for with a strong hand the Lord brought you forth thence; and leaven shall not be eaten.

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

For on this day ye go forth in the month of new [corn].

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 it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land of the Chananites, and the Chettites, and Amorites, and Evites, and Jebusites, and Gergesites, and Pherezites, which he sware to thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt perform 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.

Six days ye shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day is 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.

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; nothing leavened shall be seen with thee, neither shalt thou have leaven in all thy 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 thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying, Therefore the Lord dealt thus with me, as I was going 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.

And it shall be to thee a sign upon thy hand and a memorial before thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord God brought thee out of Egypt.

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

And preserve ye this law according to the times of the seasons, from year to 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 it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land of the Chananites, as he sware to thy fathers, and shall give it thee,

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

that thou shalt set apart every [offspring] opening the womb, the males to the Lord, every one that opens the womb out of the herds or among thy cattle, as many as thou shalt have: thou shalt sanctify the males 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.

Every [offspring] opening the womb of the ass thou shalt change for a sheep; and if thou wilt not change it, thou shalt redeem it: every first-born of man of thy sons shalt thou 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.

And if thy son should ask thee hereafter, saying, What is this? then thou shalt say to him, With a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

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 Pharao hardened [his heart so as not] to send us away, he slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and the first-born of beast; therefore do I sacrifice every [offspring] that opens the womb, the males to the Lord, and every first-born of my sons I will redeem.

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].”

And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and immovable before thine eyes, for with a strong hand the Lord brought thee 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.”

And when Pharao sent forth the people, God led them not by the way of the land of the Phylistines, because it was near; for God said, Lest at any time the people repent when they see war, 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].

And God led the people round by the way to the wilderness, to the Red Sea: and in the fifth generation the children of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt.

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.”

And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had solemnly adjured the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones hence with you.

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

And the children of Israel departed from Socchoth, and encamped in Othom by 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 God led them, in the day by a pillar of cloud, to show them the way, and in the night by a pillar of fire.

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.

And the pillar of cloud failed not by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, before all the people.