Exodus 13
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 aLuke 2. 23.
Sanctify to me every first-born, first produced, opening every womb among the
children of Israel both of man and beast: it is mine.
3 And Moses said to the people,
Remember this day, in which ye came forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage, for with a strong hand the Lord brought you forth thence;
and leaven shall not be eaten. 4 For
on this day ye go forth in the month of new corn.
5 And it shall come to pass when the
Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land of the Chananites, and the
Chettites, and Amorites, and Evites, and Jebusites, and Gergesites, and
Pherezites, which he sware to thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with
milk and honey, that thou shalt perform this service in this month.
6 Six days ye shall eat unleavened
bread, and on the seventh day is a feast to the Lord.
7 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened
bread; nothing leavened shall be seen with thee, neither shalt thou have
leaven in all thy borders. 8 And thou
shalt tell thy son in that day, saying, Therefore the Lord
bGr. did thus to me.dealt thus with me, as I was going out of Egypt.
9 And it shall be to thee a sign upon
thy hand and a memorial before thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in
thy mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord God brought thee out of Egypt.
10 And preserve ye this law according
to the times of the seasons,
cGr. from days to days. Hebraism.from year to year.
11 And it shall come to pass when the
Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land of the Chananites, as he sware to
thy fathers, and shall give it thee,
12 that thou shalt
dOr, separate.set apart every offspring opening the womb, the
males to the Lord, every one that opens the womb out of the herds or among thy
cattle, as many as thou shalt have: thou shalt sanctify the males to the Lord.
13 Every
offspring opening the womb of the ass thou shalt
change for a sheep; and if thou wilt not change it, thou shalt redeem it:
every first-born of man of thy sons shalt thou redeem.
14 And if thy son should ask thee
hereafter, saying, What is this? then thou shalt say to him, With a strong
hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
15 And when Pharao hardened
his heart so as not to send us away, he slew every
first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and the first-born
of beast; therefore do I sacrifice every
offspring that opens the womb, the males to the Lord,
and every first-born of my sons I will redeem.
16 And it shall be for a sign upon
thy hand, and immovable before thine eyes, for with a strong hand the Lord
brought thee out of Egypt.
17 And when Pharao sent forth the
people, God led them not by the way of the land of the Phylistines, because it
was near; for God said, Lest at any time the people repent when they see war,
and return to Egypt. 18 And God led
the people round by the way to the wilderness, to the Red Sea: and in the
fifth generation the children of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt.
19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph
with him, for he had solemnly adjured the children of Israel, saying, God will
surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones hence with you.
20 And the children of Israel
departed from Socchoth, and encamped in Othom by the wilderness.
21 And God led them, in the day by a
pillar of cloud, to show them the way, and in the night by a pillar of fire.
22 And the pillar of cloud failed not
by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, before all the people.