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Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate every firstborn male to Me. The first offspring to open the womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, whether man or animal.”
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought you from there by the strength of His hand. Nothing that is leavened is to be eaten. 4 Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving. 5 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which He swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you are to observe this ceremony in this month. 6 For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread is to be eaten for those seven days. Nothing leavened is to be found among you, and no yeast shall be seen among you in all your territory. 8 On that day you are to explain to your son: ‘This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt’. 9 Let it serve as a sign for you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the law of the Lord may be on your lips; for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10 You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.
11 “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your forefathers, and gives it to you, 12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn offspring of your livestock will belong to the Lord. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. However, you must redeem every firstborn among your sons.
14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘By the strength of His hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. That is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb, but I redeem each of the firstborn of my sons’. 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.”
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the land of the Philistines, though that route was shorter; for God said, “If they face war, the people will change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people toward the Red Sea by the road around the wilderness. And the Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt armed for battle.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must take my bones with you away from this place.”
20 They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so they could travel by day or night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from its place in front of the people.