Exodus 13

New King James Version

The Firstborn Consecrated

13 Then theLordspoke to Moses, saying,^2 (A)“Consecrate^[a]to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel,bothof man and beast; it is Mine.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread^(B)

³ 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 theLordbrought you out of thisplace.^(E)No leavened bread shall be eaten.^4 (F)On this day you are going out, in the month Abib.⁵ And it shall be, when theLord^(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.^6 (K)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh daythere shall bea feast to theLord.⁷ 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.⁸ And you shall^(M)tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is donebecause of what theLorddid for me when I came up from Egypt.’⁹ It shall be as^(N)a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that theLord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand theLordhas 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 theLord^(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 theLordall that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the malesshall betheLord’s.¹³ But^(S)every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeemit,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, ‘Whatisthis?’ that you shall say to him,^(V)‘By strength of hand theLordbrought 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)theLordkilled all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to theLordall 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 theLordbrought us out of Egypt.”

The Wilderness Way^(Y)

¹⁷ Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead thembyway of the land of the Philistines, although thatwasnear; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people^(Z)change their minds when they see war, and^(AA)return to Egypt.”¹⁸ So God^(AB)led the people aroundbyway of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁹ And Moses took the^(AC)bones of^(AD)Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying,^(AE)“God will surely^[e]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

²⁰ So^(AF)they took their journey from^(AG)Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness.²¹ And^(AH)theLordwent before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.²² He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by nightfrombefore the people.