1 And the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Speaker} spoke to Moses, saying {leemor: introduces direct speech}.
2 Consecrate to Me {YHWH, Sovereign Possessor} every firstborn {bekhor: first heir}, the one who opens every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of beast; it is Mine.
3 Moses said to the people, “Remember {zakhor: covenant command} this day—the day you came out from Egypt, from the house of slaves—for by a strong hand the LORD {YHWH, Redeeming Sovereign} brought you out from here; therefore you must not eat any leaven.”
4 Today you are going out {yotseim: departure}, in the month of Aviv {aviv: barley harvest season}.
5 When the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Promise Keeper} brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—which He swore to your fathers {avot: Patriarchal Ancestors} to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—then you shall carry out this service in this month.
6 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread {matsot: bread made without yeast}, and the seventh day shall be a festival to the LORD {YHWH: Covenant Redeemer}.
7 You are to consume unleavened bread {matsot: festival loaves without yeast} for seven days; no leavened bread is to be seen with you, and no leaven or sourdough is to be found within your territory {gevulekha: defined border}.
8 And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, “This is because of what the LORD {YHWH, Deliverer} did for me when I went out from Egypt {mitsrayim: house of bondage}.”
9 And it shall be for you as a sign upon your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, so that the law of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Deliverer} may be in your mouth {befikha: spoken witness}; for the LORD brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand.
10 Therefore you shall keep this statute {chukkah: permanent ordinance} at its appointed time {mo’ed: set season}, year after year.
11 And it shall be, when the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Fulfillment} brings you into the land of the Canaanite {haKena‘ani: indigenous inhabitants}, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you.
12 Then you shall set apart every firstborn {peter: womb opener} to the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Holder}; and every firstborn male of the livestock that you have shall be the LORD’s.
13 Every firstborn {peter: opener of the womb} donkey you shall redeem with a lamb {seh: sacrificial substitute}; should you fail to redeem it, you shall break its neck. You shall redeem every firstborn man among your sons.
14 And it shall be, when your son asks you tomorrow, saying “What is this?”, that you shall say to him, “With a mighty hand {yad: agency and strength} the LORD {YHWH, Deliverer from Bondage} brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slaves.”
15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about sending us away, that the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice {zoveaḥ: ritual offering} to the LORD every male that opens the womb, but I redeem every firstborn of my sons.
16 And it shall be for a sign upon your hand and for frontlets between your eyes, because by a mighty hand the LORD {YHWH, Mighty Deliverer} brought us out from Egypt {mitsrayim: land of bondage}.
17 And it happened that when Pharaoh dismissed the people, God {Elohim, Protector} did not guide them by the Philistine road, though it lay close by; for He said, “Lest the people reconsider {yinnakhem: feel regret} when they see war and turn back to Egypt.”
18 So God {Elohim, Providential Guide} redirected the people by the wilderness road {derekh: defined path} toward the Sea of Reeds, and the sons of Israel went up armed from the land of Egypt.
19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had exacted an oath from the sons of Israel, saying, “God {Elohim, Faithful Fulfiller} will surely visit you, and you shall bring up my bones {atsmot: honored remains} from here with you.”
20 And they journeyed from Sukkoth and made camp at Etham on the edge {ketse: outer boundary} of the wilderness {midbar: arid land}.
21 And the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Guide} went ahead of them—by day in a pillar of cloud {anan: guidance marker} to lead them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to shine for them—so they could travel both by day and by night.
22 The pillar of cloud {anan: protective presence} by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people {am: assembled nation}.