The Firstborn Consecrated

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, (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)

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. (F)On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. 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. (K)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 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. 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.’ 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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 13:2 Set apart
  2. Exodus 13:3 Lit. slaves
  3. Exodus 13:10 regulation
  4. Exodus 13:12 Lit. cause to pass over

Unleavened Bread and Dedication of Firstborn to Commemorate the Rescue from Egypt

13 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Consecrate to me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the Israelites,[a] among humans[b] and among domestic animals;[c] it belongs to me.”[d] And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you went out from Egypt, from a house of slaves, because with strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from here, and food with yeast will not be eaten. Today you are going out in the month of Abib. And when Yahweh brings you to the land of the Canaanites[e] and the Hittites[f] and the Amorites[g] and the Hivites[h] and the Jebusites[i]—which he swore to your ancestors[j] to give to you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you will perform this service in this month. Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day will be a feast for Yahweh. Unleavened bread will be eaten the seven days; food with yeast will not be seen for you; and yeast will not be seen for you in all your territory. And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘This is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out from Egypt.’ And it will be as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes so that the law of Yahweh will be in your mouth, that with a strong hand Yahweh brought you out from Egypt. 10 And you will keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.[k]

11 “And when Yahweh brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your ancestors,[l] and he gives it to you, 12 you will hand over every first offspring of a womb to Yahweh, and every first offspring dropped by a domestic animal that will belong to you, the males will be for Yahweh. 13 And every first offspring of a donkey you will redeem with small livestock, and if you will not redeem it, then you will break its neck, and every firstborn human among your sons you will redeem. 14 And when your son asks you in the future,[m] saying, ‘What is this?’ you will say to him, ‘With strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from a house of slaves. 15 And when Pharaoh was stubborn to release us, Yahweh killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from firstborn human to firstborn domestic animal. Therefore I am sacrificing to Yahweh every first offspring of a womb, the males, and every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 And it will be as a sign on your hand and as symbolic ornaments between your eyes that with strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt.”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 13:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Exodus 13:2 Hebrew “human”
  3. Exodus 13:2 Hebrew “animal”
  4. Exodus 13:2 Literally “to/for me it”
  5. Exodus 13:5 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  6. Exodus 13:5 Hebrew “Hittite”
  7. Exodus 13:5 Hebrew “Amorite”
  8. Exodus 13:5 Hebrew “Hivite”
  9. Exodus 13:5 Hebrew “Jebusite”
  10. Exodus 13:5 Or “fathers”
  11. Exodus 13:10 Literally “from days to days”
  12. Exodus 13:11 Or “fathers”
  13. Exodus 13:14 Literally “tomorrow”