Exodus 13
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 13
Sign and Memorial.[a] 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Consecrate each firstborn to me, whatever opens the womb in Israel, whether human or animal; it belongs to me.”
3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, your place of slavery. The Lord brought you out from there with a mighty hand. Therefore, do not eat what has been leavened. 4 This day you came out is in the month of Abib. 5 When the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, that he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall celebrate this rite in this month.
6 “For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh you shall celebrate a feast in honor of the Lord. 7 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and there shall be nothing leavened with you. There shall be no leaven in all of your territory. 8 On that day you shall teach your son: ‘This is because of what the Lord did for me when he brought me out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall be a sign on your hand and a memorial before your eyes so that the law of the Lord may be upon your lips. With a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.[b] 10 You shall celebrate this rite at this time every year.
11 “When the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, as he promised you and your fathers, and he will have given it to you as a possession, 12 you shall dedicate each firstborn from the womb to the Lord. All male firstborn of your animals belong to the Lord. 13 You shall redeem every firstborn donkey with a lamb.[c] If you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck. You shall redeem each firstborn son from among his brothers.
14 “When your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of this,’ you shall answer, ‘With a mighty arm the Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt, our place of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let us go, the Lord slew the firstborn in the land of Egypt, the firstborn of human and animal. Because of this I sacrifice the firstborn male from every womb to the Lord, and I redeem the firstborn of my sons.’ 16 This shall be a sign on your hand and a memorial before your eyes, to remember that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.”
The Lord Went before Them.[d]17 When Pharaoh let the people leave, God did not guide them on the road through the land of the Philistines, even though it was shorter, for God thought, “Otherwise the people, seeing they would have to fight, may change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 God guided the people along the desert road toward the Red Sea. The children of Israel, well armed, left the land of Egypt.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph along with him, for Joseph had solemnly sworn the children of Israel, saying, “Surely God will come to visit you, and when he does you must carry away my bones.”
20 They left Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 The Lord went before them as a pillar of cloud during the day to guide them on their way, and as a column of fire during the night to give them light, so that they could travel day and night. 22 During the day the pillar of cloud never disappeared from the sight of the people, nor did the column of fire during the night.
Footnotes
- Exodus 13:1 The practice of offering the firstborn to God and of eating unleavened bread soon provided Israel with an opportunity of passing on to later generations the religious lesson learned from the events: namely, that what God did in the beginning he continues to do for his people.
- Exodus 13:9 Sign and memorial were understood in a material way. See Deut 6:8; 11:18; Mt 23:5 on the phylacteries worn on forehead or arm.
- Exodus 13:13 A donkey could not be offered in sacrifice (see Ex 34:19-20).
- Exodus 13:16 As he had promised, God led his people along the road of freedom. The account also seeks to explain why Israel had to journey for so many years in the desert. They do not follow the way of the sea, parallel to the road leading through Sile (modern El Qantara), along which there were wells and Egyptian forts; instead they travel the caravan route through the Sinai.
Exodus 13
New King James Version
The Firstborn Consecrated
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 (A)“Consecrate[a] to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”
The Feast of Unleavened Bread(B)
3 And Moses said to the people: (C)“Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of [b]bondage; for (D)by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. (E)No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 (F)On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be, when the Lord (G)brings you into the (H)land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He (I)swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, (J)that you shall keep this service in this month. 6 (K)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And (L)no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. 8 And you shall (M)tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ 9 It shall be as (N)a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial 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 (O)You shall therefore keep this [c]ordinance in its season from year to year.
The Law of the Firstborn
11 “And it shall be, when the Lord (P)brings you into the land of the (Q)Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 (R)that you shall [d]set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lord’s. 13 But (S)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 (T)you shall redeem. 14 (U)So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, (V)‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that (W)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 (X)a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
The Wilderness Way(Y)
17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people (Z)change their minds when they see war, and (AA)return to Egypt.” 18 So God (AB)led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.
19 And Moses took the (AC)bones of (AD)Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, (AE)“God will surely [e]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”
20 So (AF)they took their journey from (AG)Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. 21 And (AH)the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
Footnotes
- Exodus 13:2 Set apart
- Exodus 13:3 Lit. slaves
- Exodus 13:10 regulation
- Exodus 13:12 Lit. cause to pass over
- Exodus 13:19 give attention to
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
