13 ^1-2 The Lord instructed Moses, “Dedicate to me all of the firstborn sons^[a] of Israel, and every firstborn male animal; they are mine!”

³ Then Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the day of leaving Egypt and your slavery; for the Lord has brought you out with mighty miracles. Now remember, during the annual celebration of this event you are to use no yeast; don’t even have any in your homes. ^4-5 Celebrate this day of your exodus, at the end of March^[b] each year, when Jehovah brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land he promised your fathers, a land ‘flowing with milk and honey.’ ^6-7 For seven days you shall eat only bread without yeast, and there must be no yeast in your homes or anywhere within the borders of your land! Then, on the seventh day, a great feast to the Lord shall be held.

⁸ “During those celebration days each year you must explain to your children why you are celebrating—it is a celebration of what the Lord did for you when you left Egypt. ⁹ This annual memorial week will brand you as his own unique people, just as though he had branded his mark of ownership upon your hands or your forehead.

¹⁰ “So celebrate the event annually in late March.^{[c] 11} And remember, when the Lord brings you into the land he promised to your ancestors long ago, where the Canaanites are now living, ¹² all firstborn sons and firstborn male animals belong to the Lord, and you shall give them to him. ¹³ A firstborn donkey may be purchased back from the Lord in exchange for a lamb or baby goat; but if you decide not to trade, the donkey shall be killed. However, you must buy back your firstborn sons.

¹⁴ “And in the future, when your children ask you, ‘What is this all about?’ you shall tell them, ‘With mighty miracles Jehovah brought us out of Egypt from our slavery. ¹⁵ Pharaoh wouldn’t let us go, so Jehovah killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both of men and animals; that is why we now give all the firstborn males to the Lord—except that all the eldest sons are always bought back.’ ¹⁶ Again I say, this celebration shall identify you as God’s people, just as much as if his brand of ownership were placed upon your foreheads. It is a reminder that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with great power.”

^17-18 So at last Pharaoh let the people go.

God did not lead them through the land of the Philistines, although that was the most direct route from Egypt to the Promised Land. The reason was that God felt the people might become discouraged by having to fight their way through, even though they had left Egypt armed; he thought they might return to Egypt. Instead, God led them along a route through the Red Sea wilderness.

¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with them, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel vow before God that they would take his bones with them when God led them out of Egypt—as he was sure God would.

²⁰ Leaving Succoth, they camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ The Lord guided them by a pillar of cloud during the daytime and by a pillar of fire at night. So they could travel either by day or night. ²² The cloud and fire were never out of sight.

14 Jehovah now instructed Moses, ² “Tell the people to turn toward Piha-hiroth between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon, and to camp there along the shore. ³ For Pharaoh will think, ‘Those Israelites are trapped now, between the desert and the sea!’ ⁴ And once again I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and he will chase after you. I have planned this to gain great honor and glory over Pharaoh and all his armies, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.”

So they camped where they were told.

⁵ When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelis were not planning to return to Egypt after three days, but to keep on going, Pharaoh and his staff became bold again. “What is this we have done, letting all these slaves get away?” they asked. ⁶ So Pharaoh led the chase in his chariot, ⁷ followed by the pick of Egypt’s chariot corps—600 chariots in all—and other chariots driven by Egyptian officers. ⁸ He pursued the people of Israel, for they had taken much of the wealth of Egypt with them. ⁹ Pharaoh’s entire cavalry—horses, chariots, and charioteers—was used in the chase; and the Egyptian army overtook the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Piha-hiroth, across from Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ As the Egyptian army approached, the people of Israel saw them far in the distance, speeding after them, and they were terribly frightened and cried out to the Lord to help them.

¹¹ And they turned against Moses, whining, “Have you brought us out here to die in the desert because there were not enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave Egypt? ¹² Isn’t this what we told you, while we were slaves, to leave us alone? We said it would be better to be slaves to the Egyptians than dead in the wilderness.”

¹³ But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch, and you will see the wonderful way the Lord will rescue you today. The Egyptians you are looking at—you will never see them again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger!”^[a]

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march! ¹⁶ Use your rod—hold it out over the water, and the sea will open up a path before you, and all the people of Israel shall walk through on dry ground! ¹⁷ I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after you and you will see the honor I will get in defeating Pharaoh and all his armies, chariots, and horsemen. ¹⁸ And all Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah.”

¹⁹ Then the Angel of God, who was leading the people of Israel, moved the cloud around behind them, ²⁰ and it stood between the people of Israel and the Egyptians. And that night, as it changed to a pillar of fire, it gave darkness to the Egyptians but light to the people of Israel! So the Egyptians couldn’t find the Israelis!

²¹ Meanwhile, Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the sea, with walls of water on each side; and a strong east wind blew all that night, drying the sea bottom. ²² So the people of Israel walked through the sea on dry ground! ²³ Then the Egyptians followed them between the walls of water along the bottom of the sea—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen. ²⁴ But in the early morning Jehovah looked down from the cloud of fire upon the array of the Egyptians, and began to harass them. ²⁵ Their chariot wheels began coming off, so that their chariots scraped along the dry ground. “Let’s get out of here,” the Egyptians yelled. “Jehovah is fighting for them and against us.”

²⁶ When all the Israelites were on the other side,^[b] the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand again over the sea, so that the waters will come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses did, and the sea returned to normal beneath the morning light. The Egyptians tried to flee, but the Lord drowned them in the sea. ²⁸ The water covered the path and the chariots and horsemen. And of all the army of Pharaoh that chased after Israel through the sea, not one remained alive.

²⁹ The people of Israel had walked through on dry land, and the waters had been walled up on either side of them. ³⁰ Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and the people of Israel saw the Egyptians dead, washed up on the seashore. ³¹ When the people of Israel saw the mighty miracle the Lord had done for them against the Egyptians, they were afraid and revered the Lord, and believed in him and in his servant Moses.