Exodus 13

1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh said to Moses/me,

2 'Sanctify to Me every first-born, opening any womb among the sons of Israel, among man and among beast; it [is] Mine.'

“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 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;

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 ye are going out, in the month of Abib.

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

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 thou dost eat unleavened things, and in the seventh day [is] a feast to Jehovah;

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 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.

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 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 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 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;

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 and thou hast kept this statute at its appointed season from days to days.

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

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,

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

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 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 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;

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 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;

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 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.'

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 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 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 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.

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 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/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 journey from Succoth, and encamp in Etham at the extremity 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 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;

[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 He removeth not the pillar of the cloud by day, and the pillar of the 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.