Exodus 13
Every Firstborn Belongs to Me
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The Feast of Unleavened Bread
13:1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
13:2“Consecrate to Me every firstborn, the first offspring opening every womb among the sons of Israel, both human and animal. It is Mine.”
13:3Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you came out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of here. No leaven shall be eaten.
13:4“Today you are going out, in the month of new grain.
13:5“When the Lord your God brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Girgashites, Amorites, Perizzites, and Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month.
13:6“You shall eat unleavened bread for six days, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast of the Lord.
13:7“You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. No leavened food shall be seen with you, and you shall have no leaven anywhere in your territory.
13:8“On that day you shall tell your son, ‘It is because of this that the Lord God acted for me when I was coming out of Egypt.’
13:9“It shall be a sign on your hand and a memorial before your eyes, so that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth, for with a mighty hand the Lord God brought you out of Egypt.
13:10“You shall keep this law at the appointed times of the seasons, from year to year.
Consecration of the Firstborn
13:11“When the Lord your God brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to your fathers, and gives it to you,
13:12“you shall set apart for the Lord whatever opens the womb, the males. Every male opening the womb among the herds or your livestock that comes to you, you shall consecrate to the Lord.
13:13“Every donkey that opens the womb you shall exchange for a sheep. If you do not exchange it, you shall redeem it. Every human firstborn among your sons you shall redeem.
13:14“When your son asks you afterward, ‘What is this?’ you shall say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
13:15“‘When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, He killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human firstborn and firstborn of the livestock. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord every male that opens the womb, and every firstborn of my sons I will redeem.’
13:16“It shall be a sign on your hand and a fixed reminder before your eyes, for with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.”
Israel Follows the Lord
13:17When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not guide them by the road through the land of the Philistines, because it was near. For God said, “The people may change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”
13:18God led the people around by the road into the wilderness toward the Red Sea. The sons of Israel went up from the land of Egypt in the fifth generation.
13:19Moses took Joseph’s bones with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath, saying, “The Lord will surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones up from here with you.”
13:20The sons of Israel departed from Succoth and camped at Etham, beside the wilderness.
13:21God led them by day in a pillar of cloud to show them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire.
13:22The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not cease before all the people.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.