< Exodus 13 >
1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
2 'Sanctify to Me every first-born, opening any womb among the sons of Israel, among man and among beast; it [is] Mine.'
“Every firstborn male is to be dedicated to me. The firstborn from every Israelite family belongs to me, and also every firstborn animal.”
3 And Moses saith unto the people, 'Remember this day [in] which ye have gone out from Egypt, from the house of servants, for by strength of hand hath Jehovah brought you out from this, and any thing fermented is not eaten;
So Moses told the people, “Remember this is the day you left Egypt, the land of your slavery, for the Lord led you out of it by his amazing power. (Nothing with yeast in it shall be eaten.)
4 To-day ye are going out, in the month of Abib.
Today you are on your way, this day in the month of Abib.
5 'And it hath been, when Jehovah bringeth thee in unto the land of the Canaanite, and of the Hittite, and of the Amorite, and of the Hivite, and of the Jebusite, which He hath sworn to thy fathers to give to thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou hast done this service in this month.
The Lord is going to take you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, the land he promised your forefathers he would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey. So you are to observe this ceremony in this month.
6 'Seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, and in the seventh day [is] a feast to Jehovah;
For seven days you are to only eat bread without yeast, and on the seventh day hold a religious festival to honor the Lord.
7 unleavened things are eaten the seven days, and any thing fermented is not seen with thee; yea, leaven is not seen with thee in all thy border.
Only bread without yeast is to be eaten during those seven days. You are not to have any yeast, in fact there is to be no yeast in any place where you live.
8 'And thou hast declared to thy son in that day, saying, '[It is] because of what Jehovah did to me, in my going out from Egypt,
On that day tell your children, ‘This is because of what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.’
9 and it hath been to thee for a sign on thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, so that the law of Jehovah is in thy mouth, for by a strong hand hath Jehovah brought thee out from Egypt;
When you celebrate this ceremony it will be like a sign on your hand and a reminder between your eyes that this teaching of the Lord should be spoken about regularly. For the Lord led you out of Egypt with his great power.
10 and thou hast kept this statute at its appointed season from days to days.
That's why you are to observe this ceremony at the proper time every year.
11 'And it hath been, when Jehovah bringeth thee in unto the land of the Canaanite, as He hath sworn to thee and to thy fathers, and hath given it to thee,
Once the Lord takes you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised you and your forefathers,
12 that thou hast caused every one opening a womb to pass over to Jehovah, and every firstling — the increase of beasts which thou hast: the males [are] Jehovah's.
you are to present to the Lord all firstborn males, human or animal. The firstborn males of your livestock all belong to the Lord.
13 'And every firstling of an ass thou dost ransom with a lamb, and if thou dost not ransom [it], then thou hast beheaded it: and every first-born of man among thy sons thou dost ransom.
You must buy back every firstborn donkey with a lamb, and if you don't do so, you have to break its neck. You must buy back every firstborn of your sons.
14 'And it hath been, when thy son asketh thee hereafter, saying, What [is] this? that thou hast said unto him, By strength of hand hath Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from a house of servants;
When in the future your children come to you and ask, ‘Why is this ceremony important to you?’ you are to tell them, ‘The Lord led us out of Egypt, the land of our slavery, by his amazing power.
15 yea, it cometh to pass, when Pharaoh hath been pained to send us away, that Jehovah doth slay every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of man even unto the first-born of beast; therefore I am sacrificing to Jehovah all opening a womb who [are] males, and every first-born of my sons I ransom;
Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us leave, so the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human and animal. That's the reason why I sacrifice to the Lord the firstborn male of every animal, and I buy back all the firstborn of my sons.’
16 and it hath been for a token on thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes, for by strength of hand hath Jehovah brought us out of Egypt.'
In this way it will be like a sign on your hand and a reminder between your eyes, for the Lord led us out of Egypt by his amazing power.”
17 And it cometh to pass in Pharaoh's sending the people away, that God hath not led them the way of the land of the Philistines, for it [is] near; for God said, 'Lest the people repent in their seeing war, and have turned back towards Egypt;'
When Pharaoh let the Israelites leave, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, even though that was a shorter way. For God said, “If they are forced to fight, they might change their minds and go back to Egypt.”
18 and God turneth round the people the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and by fifties have the sons of Israel gone up from the land of Egypt.
So God led the people by the longer way through the desert towards the Red Sea. When the Israelites left the land of Egypt they were like an army ready for battle.
19 And Moses taketh the bones of Joseph with him, for he certainly caused the sons of Israel to swear, saying, 'God doth certainly inspect you, and ye have brought up my bones from this with you.'
Moses carried Joseph's bones with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn promise, saying, “God will definitely take care of you, and then you must take my bones with you when you leave here.”
20 And they journey from Succoth, and encamp in Etham at the extremity of the wilderness,
They traveled on from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.
21 and Jehovah is going before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give light to them, to go by day and by night;
The Lord went ahead of them as a pillar of cloud to show them the way during the day, and as a pillar of fire to provide them with light at night. Like this they could travel by day or night.
22 He removeth not the pillar of the cloud by day, and the pillar of the fire by night, [from] before the people.
The pillar of cloud during the day and the pillar of fire at night were always in front of the people.