Exodus 13:8-17

English Standard Version

^8 (A)You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ And it shall ^(B)be to you as a sign on your hand and as ^(C)a memorial ^(D)between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. ^10 (E)You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, ^(F)as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, ^12 (G)you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. ^13 (H)Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every ^(I)firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. ^14 (J)And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ^(K)‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of ^(L)slavery. ¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the ^(M)Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but ^(N)all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ^16 (O)It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for ^(P)by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

Pillars of Cloud and Fire

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did ^(Q)not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people ^(R)change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”