Exodus 13

1 And the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Set apart for me every firstborn, the first to be born, that opens any womb among the children of Israel, from people to animals. It is mine.” 3 And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, on which you came out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for the Lord brought you out of here with a strong hand. And nothing with yeast in it is to be eaten. 4 Today you are going out, in the month of the new grain. [a] 5 And when the Lord your God brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you — a land flowing with milk and honey — then you are to keep this service in this month. 6 For six days you are to eat bread without yeast, and on the seventh day is a feast of the Lord. 7 You are to eat bread without yeast for the seven days. Nothing leavened is to be seen with you, and there is to be no yeast anywhere in your territory. 8 And on that day you are to tell your son: This is because of what the Lord God did for me when I came out of Egypt. 9 And it will be a sign for you on your hand and a memorial before your eyes, so that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for the Lord God brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand. 10 And you are to keep this law at its appointed times, from year to year. 11 And when the Lord your God brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 you are to set apart for the Lord everything that opens the womb, the males; every firstborn from your herds or among your cattle, whatever is born to you, the males, you are to make holy to the Lord. 13 Every firstborn donkey you are to exchange for a sheep; and if you do not exchange it, you are to pay its ransom. Every firstborn of your sons you are to ransom. 14 And when your son asks you later on, ‘What is this?’ you are to say to him: With a strong hand the Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh hardened himself against sending us out, the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of people to the firstborn of cattle. That is why I sacrifice to the Lord everything that opens the womb, the males, and why I ransom every firstborn of my sons. 16 And it will be a sign on your hand and something immovable before your eyes, for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand.”

17 When Pharaoh sent the people out, God did not lead them by the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was near; for God said, “The people may change their minds when they see war, and turn back to Egypt.” 18 So God took the people around by the wilderness road toward the Red Sea. And the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt in the fifth generation. [b] 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the children of Israel swear an oath, saying, “The Lord will surely watch over you, and you are to carry my bones up out of here with you.” 20 And the children of Israel set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, at the edge of the wilderness. 21 And God went ahead of them — by day in a pillar of cloud, to show them the road, and by night in a pillar of fire. 22 The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, in front of all the people.