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Exodus 13:1-16
Contemporary English Version
Exodus 13:1-16
Contemporary English Version
Dedication of the First-Born
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 (A) “Dedicate to me the first-born son of every family and the first-born males of your flocks and herds. These belong to me.”
The Festival of Thin Bread
3-4 Moses said to the people:
Remember this day in the month of Abib.[a] It is the day when the Lord's mighty power rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Do not eat anything made with yeast. 5 The Lord promised your ancestors that he would bring you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. It is a land rich with milk and honey.
Each year during the month of Abib, celebrate these events in the following way: 6 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day you are to celebrate a festival in honor of the Lord. 7 During those seven days, you must not eat anything made with yeast or even have yeast anywhere near your homes. 8 Then on the seventh day you must explain to your children that you do this because the Lord brought you out of Egypt.
9 This celebration will be like wearing a sign on your hand or on your forehead, because then you will pass on to others the teaching of the Lord, whose mighty power brought you out of Egypt. 10 Celebrate this festival each year at the same time.
11 The Lord will give you the land of the Canaanites, just as he promised you and your ancestors. 12 (B) From then on, you must give him every first-born son from your families and every first-born male from your animals, because these belong to him. 13 You can spare the life of a first-born donkey[b] by sacrificing a lamb; if you don't, you must break the donkey's neck. You must spare every first-born son.
14 In the future your children will ask what this ceremony means. Explain it to them by saying, “The Lord used his mighty power to rescue us from slavery in Egypt. 15 The king[c] stubbornly refused to set us free, so the Lord killed the first-born male of every animal and the first-born son of every Egyptian family. This is why we sacrifice to the Lord every first-born male of every animal and save every first-born son.”
16 This ceremony will serve the same purpose as a sign on your hand or on your forehead to tell how the Lord's mighty power rescued us from Egypt.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 13.3,4 Abib: Or Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.
- 13.13 donkey: This was the only “unclean” animal that had to be spared; the first-born of all “clean” animals (sheep, goats, cattle) had to be sacrificed. Donkeys were important because they were the basic means of transportation.
- 13.15 The king: See the note at 1.11.
Exodus 13:1-16
New International Version
Exodus 13:1-16
New International Version
Consecration of the Firstborn
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male.(A) The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt,(B) out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.(C) Eat nothing containing yeast.(D) 4 Today, in the month of Aviv,(E) you are leaving. 5 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites,(F) Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites(G)—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey(H)—you are to observe this ceremony(I) in this month: 6 For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival(J) to the Lord. 7 Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. 8 On that day tell your son,(K) ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand(L) and a reminder on your forehead(M) that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.(N) 10 You must keep this ordinance(O) at the appointed time(P) year after year.
11 “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites(Q) and gives it to you, as he promised on oath(R) to you and your ancestors,(S) 12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord.(T) 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey,(U) but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.(V) Redeem(W) every firstborn among your sons.(X)
14 “In days to come, when your son(Y) asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.(Z) 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’(AA) 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead(AB) that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”
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