Our Father Speaks to Moses
13 1 Our Father spoke to Moses:
The Firstborn Set Apart
2 "Consecrate to me every firstborn. The first to open every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal." 1 1 v2 Our Father claims every firstborn as his own — a claim that reaches its fullness in Jesus, the firstborn whom the Father gave for us.
Unleavened Bread: Remember the Way Out
3 Then Moses said to the people, "Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for with a mighty hand our Father brought you out of this place. Eat no leavened bread." 4 Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5 And when our Father brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites — the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey — you are to keep this observance in this month. 6 For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there is a feast to our Father. 7 Eat unleavened bread throughout the seven days. No leavened bread must be found among you, and no leaven anywhere within your borders. 8 On that day you are to tell your son, "This is because of what our Father did for me when I came out of Egypt." 9 It will be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead, so that the instruction of our Father may be on your lips; for with a mighty hand our Father brought you out of Egypt. 10 So you are to keep this statute at its appointed time, year after year.
11 And when our Father brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he swore to you and to your ancestors, 12 you are to set apart for our Father the first to open the womb. Every firstborn male of your livestock belongs to our Father. 13 Every firstborn donkey you are to redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. And every firstborn among your sons you are to redeem.
14 And when, in time to come, your son asks you, "What does this mean?" you are to tell him, "With a mighty hand our Father brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." 15 "When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, our Father killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of people to the firstborn of animals. That is why I sacrifice to our Father every male that first opens the womb, but I redeem every firstborn of my sons." 16 It will be a sign on your hand and a band on your forehead, for with a mighty hand our Father brought us out of Egypt.
A Safer Road
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, our Father did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for our Father said, "If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt."
Cloud by Day, Fire by Night
18 So our Father led the people around by the desert road toward the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt arrayed for battle. 2 2 v18 The Hebrew reads "Sea of Reeds" — the body of water long known in English as the Red Sea.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, "Our Father will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from here."
20 They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And our Father went ahead of them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so they could travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.