Exodus 13
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh said to Moses/me,
2 “Set apart to me all the firstborn, every firstborn male among the Israelites, both of people and animals. The firstborn belongs to me.”
“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 Moses said to the people, “Call this day to mind, the day on which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by Yahweh's strong hand he brought you out from this place. No bread with yeast may be eaten.
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 You are going out of Egypt on this day, in the month of Aviv.
You are leaving Egypt on this day, which is the first day of the month that is [named] Abib.
5 When Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—then you must observe this act of worship 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 For seven days you must eat bread without yeast; on the seventh day there will be a feast to honor 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 Bread without yeast must be eaten throughout the seven days; no bread with yeast may be seen among you. No yeast may be seen with you within any of your borders.
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 On that day you are to say to your children, 'This is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came 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 This will be a reminder for you on your hand, and a reminder on your forehead. This is so the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand Yahweh brought you 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 Therefore you must keep this law at its appointed time from year to year.
So you must celebrate this festival every year at the time [Yahweh] has appointed.’
11 When Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and to your ancestors to do, and when he gives the land to you,
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 you must set apart to Yahweh the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn offspring of your animals that are males, will belong to Yahweh.
you must dedicate to Yahweh the firstborn males of all your animals. These all will belong to Yahweh.
13 Every firstborn of a donkey you must buy back with a lamb. If you do not buy it back, then you must break its neck. But each of your firstborn males among all your sons—you must buy them back.
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 When your son asks you later, 'What does this mean?' then you are to tell him, 'It was by a strong hand that Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slavery.
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 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of people and the firstborn of animals. That is why I sacrifice to Yahweh the firstborn male of every animal, and why I buy back the firstborn of my sons.'
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 This will become a reminder on your hands, and a reminder on your forehead, for it was by a strong hand Yahweh brought us 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 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that land was nearby. For God said, “Perhaps the people will change their minds when they experience war and will then return 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 led the people around through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt armed for battle.
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 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the Israelites solemnly swear and said, “God will surely rescue you, and you must carry away my bones 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 The Israelites journeyed from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
The Israeli people left Succoth and traveled to Etham, at the edge of the desert, and they set up their tents there.
21 Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way. By night he went in a pillar of fire to give them light. In this way they could travel by day and by 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 Yahweh did not take away from before the people the daytime pillar of cloud or the nighttime pillar of fire.
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.
