Exodus 13:1–10

Consecration of the Firstborn

13The Lord said to Moses, ²“Consecrate to me every firstborn male.^z The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

³Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt,^a out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.^b Eat nothing containing yeast.^{c 4}Today, in the month of Aviv,^d you are leaving. ⁵When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites,^e Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites^f—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey^g—you are to observe this ceremony^h in this month: ⁶For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festivalⁱ to the Lord. ⁷Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. ⁸On that day tell your son,^j ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand^k and a reminder on your forehead^l that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.^{m 10}You must keep this ordinanceⁿ at the appointed time^o year after year.