Exodus 13

Consecrate Every Firstborn

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Consecrate to me every firstborn, whatever first opens the womb among the children of Israel, both human and animal. It belongs to me.”

Remember This Day

3Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the house of slavery, for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from there. Nothing leavened shall be eaten. 4Today you are going out, in the month of Abib. 5And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. 6Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the LORD. 7Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days, and nothing leavened shall be seen with you, nor shall leaven be seen with you within all your territory. 8You shall tell your child on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out from Egypt.’ 9It shall be for you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, so that the instruction of the LORD may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand the LORD brought you out from Egypt. 10You shall keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

The Firstborn Belong to the LORD

11“And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your ancestors, and gives it to you, 12you shall set apart to the LORD everything that first opens the womb. Every firstborn male from your livestock belongs to the LORD. 13Every firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck. Every firstborn among your sons you shall redeem. 14And when your child asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ you shall say, ‘By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15When Pharaoh hardened himself against sending us out, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of humans to the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD every male that first opens the womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16It shall be as a sign on your hand and as bands between your eyes, for by strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt.”

God Leads the People by the Wilderness

17When Pharaoh sent the people out, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, though it was near, for God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Sea of Reeds. The children of Israel went up armed from the land of Egypt. 19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the children of Israel swear solemnly, saying, “God will surely attend to you, and you shall carry my bones up from here with you.” 20They journeyed from Succoth and camped at Etham, at the edge of the wilderness. 21The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night. 22The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.