Exodus 13Book 2 of 66 · 22 verses · MBT primary, NKJV fallback where MBT pending

  1. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
  2. Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, the first offspring to open the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.
  3. And Moses said to the people, "Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a powerful hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten."
  4. On this day you are going out, in the month of Abib in early spring.
  5. And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe this service in this month.
  6. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the LORD.
  7. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days, and no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be found among you in all your territory.
  8. And you shall explain to your son on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
  9. It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the LORD's law may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.
  10. You shall therefore keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.
  11. And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your ancestors, and gives it to you,
  12. You shall devote to the LORD all that first opens the womb, that is, every firstborn male that comes from the livestock which you own; they belong to the LORD.
  13. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck, and all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
  14. So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What does this mean?' that you shall say to him, 'By strength of his mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.'
  15. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast, therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.
  16. It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.
  17. When Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was the shortest route, for God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they face war and return to Egypt."
  18. So God led the people around by way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up equipped for battle out of the land of Egypt.
  19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God will surely come to your aid, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you."
  20. So they took their journey from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
  21. And the LORD went ahead of them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.
  22. He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from its place before the people.