Exodus 13:1–16

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, ²“Set apart every firstborn male for me. Every firstborn male offspring among the Israelites is mine, whether human or animal.” 

³Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day—the day when you left Egypt, the land of slavery. The Lord used his mighty hand to bring you out of there. Don’t eat anything made with yeast. ⁴Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving Egypt. ⁵The Lord swore to your ancestors that he would give you the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. When he brings you into that land flowing with milk and honey, you must observe this ceremony in this month. 

⁶“For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. The seventh day will be a pilgrimage festival in the Lord’s honor. ⁷Only unleavened bread should be eaten during these seven days. No sourdough or yeast should be seen anywhere in your territory. ⁸On that day tell your children, ‘We do this because of what the Lord did for us when we left Egypt.’ ⁹This ⸤festival⸥ will be ⸤like⸥ a mark on your hand or a reminder on your forehead that the teachings of the Lord are ⸤always⸥ to be a part of your conversation. Because the Lord used his mighty hand to bring you out of Egypt, ¹⁰you must follow these rules every year at this time. 

Rules Concerning the Firstborn Child

¹¹“When the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he swore to you and your ancestors, ¹²sacrifice every firstborn male offspring to the Lord. The firstborn male offspring of each of your animals belongs to the Lord. ¹³It will cost you a sheep or a goat to buy any firstborn donkey back from the Lord. If you don’t buy it back, then you must break the donkey’s neck. You must also buy every firstborn son back from the Lord. 

¹⁴“In the future when your children ask you what this means, tell them, ‘The Lord used his mighty hand to bring us out of slavery in Egypt. ¹⁵When Pharaoh was too stubborn to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn male in Egypt—human and animal. This is why we sacrifice every firstborn male to the Lord and buy every firstborn son back from the Lord.’ ¹⁶So this ⸤festival⸥ will be ⸤like⸥ a mark on your hand and ⸤like⸥ a band on your forehead, because the Lord used his mighty hand to bring us out of Egypt.”