^26:5Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering⁹ Aramean¹⁰ was my ancestor,¹¹ and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number,¹² but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. ^26:6But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. ^26:7So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he¹³ heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. ^26:8Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power,¹⁴ as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders. ^26:9Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

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Footnotes

9 Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like ( ; 1–2 ; cf. “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions.
10 A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41–42).
11 Heb “father.”
12 Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
13 Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in .
14 Heb “by a powerful hand and an extended arm.” These are anthropomorphisms designed to convey God’s tremendously great power in rescuing Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They are preserved literally in many English versions (cf. , , , ).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;

CSBChristian Standard Bible

You are to respond by saying in the presence of the Lord your God:

My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with a few people and resided there as an alien. There he became a great, powerful, and populous nation. But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, and forced us to do hard labor. So we called out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our cry and saw our misery, hardship, and oppression. Then the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with terrifying power, and with signs and wonders. He led us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

NLTNew Living Translation

“You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation. When the Egyptians oppressed and humiliated us by making us their slaves, we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He heard our cries and saw our hardship, toil, and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey!

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And you shall declare and you shall say before your God, ‘My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt, and there he dwelt as an alien few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and numerous. And the Egyptians treated us badly, and they oppressed us and imposed on us hard labor. And we cried to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression. And Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and with wonders. And he brought us to this place and gave to us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

KJV 1900King James Version

And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.

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