Remembering the Deliverance from Egypt

1 And the Lord spoke with Moses, saying, 2 Sanctify to Me every firstborn. Whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, of people and of animals, is Mine. 3 And Moses said to the people, Remember this day, on which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out from there; and you shall not eat anything leavened. 4 Today you are going out, in the month of Abib. 5 And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He affirmed to your ancestors to give you,⁠a a land producing milk and honey, you shall perform this service in this month. 6 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day hold a feast before the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; nothing leavened shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8 And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, It is because of what the Lord did for me when He brought me out of Egypt. 9 And it shall be a sign for you on your hand and a memorial between your eyes, so that the Law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10 And you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year. 11 And when the Lord has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and has given it to you, 12 you shall set apart before the Lord everything that opens the womb; every male among the firstborn of your cattle shall be consecrated before the Lord. 13 And every firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; but if you will not redeem it, you shall destroy it; and every firstborn son among your children you shall redeem. 14 And when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is this? you shall say to him, With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of people to the firstborn of cattle; that is why I sacrifice before the Lord every male that opens the womb, and redeem every firstborn of my sons. 16 And it shall be a sign on your hand and tefillin between your eyes, for with a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.

The Journey toward the Sea

17 And when Pharaoh had sent the people away, the Lord did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although it was the nearest; for the Lord said, The people may be terrified when they see war, and return to Egypt. 18 But the Lord led the people around by the way of the desert to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt armed. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath, saying, The Lord will surely remember you, and you shall carry my bones up from here. 20 And they traveled from Succoth and camped at Etham, at the edge of the desert. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in the pillar of cloud to lead them on the way, and by night in the pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not leave its place in front of the people.