13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(A)Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the firstborn of every womb among the sons of Israel, among people and animals alike; it belongs to Me.”

³ And Moses said to the people, “^(B)Remember this day in which you departed from Egypt, from the house of ^[a]slavery; for ^(C)by ^[b]a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place. ^(D)And nothing with yeast shall be eaten. ⁴ On this day in the ^(E)month of Abib, you are about to go out from here. ⁵ And it shall be when the Lord ^(F)brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which ^(G)He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, ^(H)that you shall ^[c]perform this rite in this month. ⁶ For ^(I)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 throughout the seven days; and ^(J)nothing with yeast shall ^[d]be seen among you, nor shall any dough with yeast ^[e]be seen among you in all your borders. ⁸ And ^(K)you shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ And ^(L)it shall ^[f]serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder ^[g]on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with ^(M)a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ Therefore, you shall ^(N)keep this ordinance at its appointed time from ^[h]year to year.

¹¹ “Now when ^(O)the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as ^(P)He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, ^12 (Q)you shall ^[i]devote to the Lord every firstborn of a womb, and every firstborn offspring of an animal that you own; the males belong to the Lord. ¹³ But ^(R)every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and ^(S)every ^[j]firstborn among your sons you shall redeem. ^14 (T)And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘^(U)With ^[k]a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of ^[l]slavery. ¹⁵ And it came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the ^(V)Lord put to death every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human firstborns to animal firstborns. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the males, every firstborn of a womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ So ^(W)it shall ^[m]serve as a sign on your hand and as ^[n]phylacteries ^[o]on your forehead, for with ^[p]a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

God Leads the People

¹⁷ Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “^(X)The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ Therefore God led the people around by way of the wilderness to the ^[q]Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up ^(Y)in battle formation from the land of Egypt. ¹⁹ And Moses took ^(Z)the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will certainly ^[r]take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.” ²⁰ Then they set out from ^(AA)Succoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ And ^(AB)the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they might ^[s]travel by day and by night. ^22 [t]He ^(AC)did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from the presence of the people.