Exodus 13:1-16

Names of God Bible

13 Yahweh spoke to Moses, ² “Set apart every firstborn male for me. Every firstborn male offspring among the Israelites is mine, whether human or animal.”

³ Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day—the day when you left Egypt, the land of slavery. Yahweh used his mighty hand to bring you out of there. Don’t eat anything made with yeast. ⁴ Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving Egypt. ⁵ Yahweh swore to your ancestors that he would give you the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. When he brings you into that land flowing with milk and honey, you must observe this ceremony in this month.

⁶ “For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. The seventh day will be a pilgrimage festival in Yahweh’s honor. ⁷ Only unleavened bread should be eaten during these seven days. No sourdough or yeast should be seen anywhere in your territory. ⁸ On that day tell your children, ‘We do this because of what Yahweh did for us when we left Egypt.’ ⁹ This festival will be like a mark on your hand or a reminder on your forehead that the teachings of Yahweh are always to be a part of your conversation. Because Yahweh used his mighty hand to bring you out of Egypt, ¹⁰ you must follow these rules every year at this time.

Rules Concerning the Firstborn Child

¹¹ “When Yahweh brings you to the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he swore to you and your ancestors, ¹² sacrifice every firstborn male offspring to Yahweh. The firstborn male offspring of each of your animals belongs to Yahweh. ¹³ It will cost you a sheep or a goat to buy any firstborn donkey back from the Lord. If you don’t buy it back, then you must break the donkey’s neck. You must also buy every firstborn son back from the Lord.

¹⁴ “In the future when your children ask you what this means, tell them, ‘Yahweh used his mighty hand to bring us out of slavery in Egypt. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh was too stubborn to let us go, Yahweh killed every firstborn male in Egypt—human and animal. This is why we sacrifice every firstborn male to Yahweh and buy every firstborn son back from the Lord.’ ¹⁶ So this festival will be like a mark on your hand and like a band on your forehead, because Yahweh used his mighty hand to bring us out of Egypt.”