Exodus 13-16

International Standard Version

Consecration of the Firstborn

13 The Lord spoke to Moses, ² “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelis, both of humans and of animals, belongs to me.”

The Festival of Unleavened Bread

³ Then Moses told the people, “Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, from the house of bondage, because the Lord brought you out from this place with a strong show of force.^[a] Moreover, nothing leavened is to be eaten. ⁴ Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. ⁵ When the Lord brings you to 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 are to observe this ritual in this month. ⁶ You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, and on the seventh day there is to be a festival to the Lord. ⁷ Unleavened bread is to be eaten for seven days, and nothing leavened is to be seen among you, nor is leaven to be seen among you throughout your territory. ⁸ And you are to tell your child on that day, ‘This is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ It is to be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead,^[b] so that you may speak about the instruction^[c] of the Lord; for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with a strong show of force.^{[d] 10} You are to keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.”

The Redemption of the Firstborn

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite and gives it to you, just as he promised you and your ancestors, ¹² you are to dedicate to the Lord everything that first opens the womb. All the firstborn males^[e] of your livestock belong to the Lord. ¹³ You are to redeem every firstborn donkey^[f] with a lamb, and if you don’t redeem it, you are to break its neck. You are to redeem every firstborn^[g] among your sons. ¹⁴ Then when your child asks you in the future, ‘What is this?’, you are to say to him, ‘The Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage with a strong show of force.^{[h] 15} And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, 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 I redeem every firstborn of my sons. ¹⁶ It is to be a sign on your hand and an emblem^[i] on your forehead,^[j] because the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong show of force.’”^[k]

God Guides the People in the Desert

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearer, because God had said, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led the people the roundabout way of the desert toward the Reed^[l] Sea. The Israelis went up from the land of Egypt in military formation.^{[m] 19} Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph^[n] had made the Israelis take this solemn oath: “God will certainly take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones up with you from here.” ²⁰ They left Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the desert. ²¹ The Lord went in front 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 they could travel both day and night. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

Crossing the Reed Sea

14 The Lord told Moses, ² “Tell the Israelis that they are to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it by the sea. ³ Pharaoh will say about the Israelis, ‘They’re wandering aimlessly in the land, and the desert has closed in on them.’ ⁴ I’ve made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn^[o] so he will pursue them. But I’ll receive honor by means of^[p] Pharaoh and his army, so that the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So this is what the Israelis^[q] did.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds^[r] of Pharaoh and his officials^[s] changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done in releasing Israel from serving us?” ⁶ So Pharaoh^[t] had his chariot prepared and took his troops^[u] with him.

⁷ He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other^[v] chariots of Egypt with officers in charge of each one. ⁸ The Lord made the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, stubborn,^[w] and he defiantly^[x] pursued the Israelis as they were leaving. ⁹ The Egyptians pursued them—all the chariot-horses of Pharaoh, along with his horsemen and army—and they overtook them camped by the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the Israelis looked up, and there were the Egyptians bearing down on them! Extremely frightened, the Israelis cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They also^[y] told Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us out to die in the desert? What have you done to us, by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Is this not what we told you in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone!’^[z] and ‘Let us serve the Egyptians!’? Indeed, it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

¹³ Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still and watch how the Lord will deliver you today, because you will never again see the Egyptians whom you’re looking at today. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you while you keep still.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord told Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelis to move out! ¹⁶ You are to raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, so the Israelis may go into the middle of the sea on dry land. ¹⁷ Even now I’m hardening the heart of the Egyptians so they’ll go after the Israelis.^[aa] Then I’ll receive honor by means of^[ab] Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I receive honor by means of^[ac] Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

¹⁹ Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the camp of Israel, moved behind them. The pillar of cloud also^[ad] moved from in front of them and stood behind them, ²⁰ coming between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. The cloud remained there even^[ae] in the darkness,^[af] illuminating the night, so that the one side did not come near the other all night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the water to retreat by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. As the waters were divided, ²² the Israelis went into the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters formed a wall for them on their right and on their left.

²³ The Egyptians pursued—all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen—and they went into the middle of the sea after them. ²⁴ In the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian camp through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian camp into confusion. ²⁵ He made the wheels of their chariots wobble^[ag] so that they drove them with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from Israel because the Lord is fighting for them and against us.”^[ah]

The Egyptians Drown in the Sea

²⁶ Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea and the water will come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots, and over their horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the water returned to its normal depth at daybreak. The Egyptians tried to retreat in front of the advancing water,^[ai] but the Lord destroyed^[aj] the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. ²⁸ The water returned, covering the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh’s entire army that had pursued the Israelis into the sea. Not a single one of them remained. ²⁹ But the Israelis walked through the middle of the sea on dry land, and the water stood like a wall for them on their right and on their left.

³⁰ On that day the Lord delivered Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead along the seashore. ³¹ When Israel saw the great force^[ak] by which the Lord had acted against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord and Moses his servant.

The Song of Moses

15 Then Moses and the Israelis sang this song to the Lord:

¹⁹ When the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord caused the waters of the sea to come back over them, but the Israelis walked through the middle of the sea on dry land.

The Song of Miriam

²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand and went out with all the women behind her with tambourines and dancing. ²¹ Miriam sang to them,

God Provides Water for the People

²² Then Moses led Israel from the Reed^[aw] Sea and they went to the desert of Shur. They traveled into the desert for three days and did not find water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter. (That is why it’s called^[ax] Marah.)^{[ay] 24} Then the people complained against Moses: “What are we to drink?” ²⁵ Moses^[az] cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which he threw into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord^[ba] presented to them a statute and an ordinance, and there he tested them. ²⁶ He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what he sees to be right, listen to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then I won’t inflict on you all the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians, because I am the Lord your healer.” ²⁷ Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

Manna and Quail Provided

16 Later, they left Elim, and the whole congregation of the Israelis came to the desert^[bb] of Sin, which lay between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. ² The whole congregation of the Israelis complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. ³ The Israelis told them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the cooking pots,^[bc] when we ate bread until we were filled—because you brought us to this desert to kill this entire congregation with hunger.”

⁴ The Lord told Moses, “Listen very carefully! I’ll cause food to rain down for you from heaven, and the people are to go out and gather each day’s portion on that day. In this way I’ll test them to demonstrate whether or not they’ll live according to my instructions. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be double what they gather on other days.”^[bd]

⁶ So Moses and Aaron addressed the entire congregation of the Israelis: “This evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints against him.^[be] After all, who are we that you complain against us?” ⁸ Moses also said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread in the morning to satisfy you, the Lord will hear your complaints directed^[bf] against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren’t against us, but rather against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses instructed Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelis, ‘Come near into the Lord’s presence, because he has heard your complaints.’”

¹⁰ While Aaron was speaking to all the congregation of the Israelis, they turned toward the desert, and there the glory of the Lord was seen in the cloud. ¹¹ The Lord told Moses, ¹² “I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelis. Tell them, ‘At twilight you are to eat meat and in the morning you are to be filled with bread, so you may know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ Later that evening quail came up and covered the camp, and then in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴ When the layer of dew evaporated,^[bg] on the surface of the desert a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost, appeared on the ground. ¹⁵ When the Israelis saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?”,^[bh] because they did not know what it was.

Moses told them, “It’s the food that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘You are to gather from it what each person is to eat,^[bi] about one omer^[bj] per person according to the number of your people, and one person is to gather for everyone in his tent.’”

¹⁷ The Israelis did this, some gathering much, some little. ¹⁸ When they measured it with a vessel the capacity of which was one omer,^[bk] the one who gathered much did not have an excess, while the one who gathered little did not lack. They gathered exactly what each needed to eat.^[bl]

¹⁹ Then Moses told them, “No one is to leave any of it until morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses—some people left part of it until morning, and it produced maggots and smelled bad, so Moses got angry at them. ²¹ Every morning they gathered it, according to what each needed to eat; and when the sun became hot, it melted.

²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, about two omers^[bm] per person. Then all the leaders of the congregation came and reported to Moses, ²³ and he told them, “This is what the Lord said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and put aside whatever remains to be kept for yourselves until morning.’” ²⁴ So they put it away until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not smell bad, and there were no maggots in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today, since today is a Sabbath to the Lord, and today you won’t find it in the field. ²⁶ For six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there won’t be any.”^[bn]

²⁷ Nevertheless, that seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any. ²⁸ Then the Lord asked Moses, “How long will you people^[bo] refuse to keep my commandments and my instructions?^{[bp] 29} You see that the Lord has given you the Sabbath, and so on the sixth day he gives you food for two days. Let each person stay where he is; let no one leave his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The Israelis named it^[bq] “manna”.^[br] It was white like coriander seed, and tasted like a wafer made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Set aside one omer^[bs] of it for future generations, so that they may see the food with which I fed you in the desert when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

³³ Then Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar, fill it with about one omer^[bt] of manna, and place it in the Lord’s presence, to be preserved throughout future generations.” ³⁴ So Aaron placed it before the Testimony^[bu] to be kept, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³⁵ The Israelis ate manna for 40 years until they came to a land where they could settle.^[bv] They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ Now one omer^[bw] is a tenth of an ephah.^[bx]