Exodus 13 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Dedication of the Firstborn

Exo 13:1Then the LORD said to Moses,

Exo 13:2“Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.”

(Exo 12:14–20 )

Exo 13:3

Exo 13:3So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the LORD has brought you out by the power of his mighty hand. (Remember, eat no food containing yeast.)

Exo 13:4

Exo 13:4On this day in early spring, in the month of Abib,[fn] you have been set free.

Exo 13:5

Exo 13:5You must celebrate this event in this month each year after the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. (He swore to your ancestors that he would give you this land—a land flowing with milk and honey.)

Exo 13:6

Exo 13:6For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. Then on the seventh day, celebrate a feast to the LORD.

Exo 13:7

Exo 13:7Eat bread without yeast during those seven days. In fact, there must be no yeast bread or any yeast at all found within the borders of your land during this time.

Exo 13:8

Exo 13:8“On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the LORD did for me when I left Egypt.’

Exo 13:9

Exo 13:9This annual festival will be a visible sign to you, like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the LORD: ‘With a strong hand, the LORD rescued you from Egypt.’[fn]

Exo 13:10

Exo 13:10So observe the decree of this festival at the appointed time each year.

Exo 13:11

Exo 13:11“This is what you must do when the LORD fulfills the promise he swore to you and to your ancestors. When he gives you the land where the Canaanites now live,

Exo 13:12

Exo 13:12you must present all firstborn sons and firstborn male animals to the LORD, for they belong to him.

Exo 13:13

Exo 13:13A firstborn donkey may be bought back from the LORD by presenting a lamb or young goat in its place. But if you do not buy it back, you must break its neck. However, you must buy back every firstborn son.

Exo 13:14

Exo 13:14“And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the LORD brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery.

Exo 13:15

Exo 13:15Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, so the LORD killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both people and animals. That is why I now sacrifice all the firstborn males to the LORD—except that the firstborn sons are always bought back.’

Exo 13:16

Exo 13:16This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. It is a reminder that the power of the LORD’s mighty hand brought us out of Egypt.”

Israel’s Wilderness Detour

(Exo 40:34–38; Num 9:15–23; 1Ki 8:10, 11 )

Exo 13:17

Exo 13:17When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

Exo 13:18

Exo 13:18So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.[fn] Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.[fn]

Exo 13:19

Exo 13:19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear to do this. He said, “God will certainly come to help you. When he does, you must take my bones with you from this place.”

Exo 13:20

Exo 13:20The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.

Exo 13:21

Exo 13:21The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night.

Exo 13:22

Exo 13:22And the LORD did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(13:4)

Hebrew On this day in the month of Abib. This first month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of March and April.

(13:9)

Or Let it remind you always to keep the instructions of the LORD on the tip of your tongue, because with a strong hand, the LORD rescued you from Egypt.

(13:18)

Hebrew sea of reeds.

(13:18)

Greek version reads left Egypt in the fifth generation.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

Exodus Chapter 13 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Exodus 13 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

Exodus Chapter 13 — Additional Translations:

Did You Know BLB Is User Supported?