1 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying, 2 Sanctifie vnto me all the first borne: that is, euery one that first openeth the wombe among the children of Israel, as well of man as of beast: for it is mine. 3 Then Moses sayd vnto the people, Remember this day in the which ye came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: for by a mightie hande the Lord brought you out from thence: therefore no leauened bread shall bee eaten. 4 This day come yee out in the moneth of Abib. 5 Now when the Lord hath brought thee into the land of the Canaanites, and Hittites, and Amorites, and Hiuites, and Iebusites (which he sware vnto thy fathers, that he woulde giue thee, a land flowing with milke and honie) then thou shalt keepe this seruice in this moneth. 6 Seuen dayes shalt thou eate vnleauened bread, and the seuenth day shall be the feast of the Lord. 7 Vnleauened bread shall bee eaten seuen dayes, and there shall no leauened bread be seene with thee, nor yet leauen be seene with thee in all thy quarters. 8 And thou shalt shew thy sonne in that day, saying, This is done, because of that which the Lord did vnto me, when I came out of Egypt. 9 And it shalbe a signe vnto thee vpon thine hande, and for a remembrance betweene thine eyes, that the Lawe of the Lord may be in thy mouth: for by a strong hand the Lord brought thee out of Egypt. 10 Keepe therefore this ordinance in his season appoynted from yeere to yeere. 11 And when the Lord shall bring thee into the lande of the Canaanites, as hee sware vnto thee and to thy fathers, and shall giue it thee, 12 Then thou shalt set apart vnto the Lord all that first openeth the wombe: also euery thing that first doeth open the wombe, and commeth forth of thy beast: the males shalbe the Lordes. 13 But euery first foale of an asse, thou shalt redeeme with a lambe: and if thou redeeme him not, then thou shalt breake his necke: likewise all the first borne of man among thy sonnes shalt thou bye out. 14 And when thy sonne shall aske thee to morowe, saying, What is this? thou shalt then say vnto him, With a mightie hande the Lord brought vs out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 15 For when Pharaoh was harde hearted against our departing, the Lord then slewe all the first borne in the lande of Egypt: from the first borne of man euen to the first borne of beast: therefore I sacrifice vnto the Lord all the males that first open the wombe, but all the first borne of my sonnes I redeeme. 16 And it shalbe as a token vpon thine hand, and as frontlets betweene thine eyes, that the Lord brought vs out of Egypt by a mightie hande. 17 Nowe when Pharaoh had let the people go, God caried them not by the way of the Philistims countrey, though it were neerer: (for God sayd, Lest the people repent whe they see warre, and turne againe to Egypt) 18 But God made the people to go about by the way of the wildernesse of the red sea: and the children of Israel went vp armed out of the land of Egypt. 19 (And Moses tooke the bones of Ioseph with him: for he had made the children of Israel sweare, saying, God will surely visite you, and ye shall take my bones away hence with you) 20 So they tooke their iourney from Succoth, and camped in Etham in the edge of the wildernesse. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloude to leade them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to giue them light, that they might go both by day and by night. 22 He tooke not away the pillar of ye cloude by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
Dedication of the First-Born
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Dedicate all the first-born males to me, for every first-born male Israelite and every first-born male animal belongs to me.”
The Festival of Unleavened Bread
3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day—the day on which you left Egypt, the place where you were slaves. This is the day the Lord brought you out by his great power. No leavened bread is to be eaten. 4 You are leaving Egypt on this day in the first month, the month of Abib. 5 The Lord solemnly promised your ancestors to give you the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. When he brings you into that rich and fertile land, you must celebrate this festival in the first month of every year. 6 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day there is to be a festival to honor the Lord. 7 For seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast; there must be no yeast or leavened bread anywhere in your land. 8 When the festival begins, explain to your sons that you do all this because of what the Lord did for you when you left Egypt. 9 This observance will be a reminder, like something tied on your hand or on your forehead; it will remind you to continue to recite and study the Law of the Lord, because the Lord brought you out of Egypt by his great power. 10 Celebrate this festival at the appointed time each year.
The First-Born
11 “The Lord will bring you into the land of the Canaanites, which he solemnly promised to you and your ancestors. When he gives it to you, 12 you must offer every first-born male to the Lord. Every first-born male of your animals belongs to the Lord, 13 but you must buy back from him every first-born male donkey by offering a lamb in its place. If you do not want to buy back the donkey, break its neck. You must buy back every first-born male child of yours. 14 In the future, when your son asks what this observance means, you will answer him, ‘By using great power the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place where we were slaves. 15 When the king of Egypt was stubborn and refused to let us go, the Lord killed every first-born male in the land of Egypt, both human and animal. That is why we sacrifice every first-born male animal to the Lord, but buy back our first-born sons. 16 This observance will be a reminder, like something tied on our hands or on our foreheads; it will remind us that the Lord brought us out of Egypt by his great power.’”
The Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar of Fire
17 When the king of Egypt let the people go, God did not take them by the road that goes up the coast to Philistia, although it was the shortest way. God thought, “I do not want the people to change their minds and return to Egypt when they see that they are going to have to fight.” 18 Instead, he led them in a roundabout way through the desert toward the Red Sea. The Israelites were armed for battle.
19 Moses took the body of Joseph with him, as Joseph had made the Israelites solemnly promise to do. Joseph had said, “When God rescues you, you must carry my body with you from this place.”
20 The Israelites left Sukkoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 During the day the Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud to show them the way, and during the night he went in front of them in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel night and day. 22 The pillar of cloud was always in front of the people during the day, and the pillar of fire at night.