The Law of the Firstborn

¹¹ “And it shall be, when the Lord ^(A)brings you into the land of the ^(B)Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, ^12 (C)that you shall ^[a]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 ^(D)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 ^(E)you shall redeem. ^14 (F)So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ^(G)‘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 ^(H)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.’