New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 Then the LORD said to Moses,
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The LORD said to Moses:
2 “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.”
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Dedicate to me all your oldest children. Each first offspring from any Israelite womb belongs to me, whether human or animal.
3 So 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.)
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Moses said to the people, “Remember this day which is the day that you came out of Egypt, out of the place you were slaves, because the LORD acted with power to bring you out of there. No leavened bread may be eaten.
4 On this day in early spring, in the month of Abib, you have been set free.
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Today, in the month of Abib, you are going to leave.
5 You 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.)
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The LORD will bring you to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. It is the land that the LORD promised your ancestors to give to you, a land full of milk and honey. You should perform this ritual in this month.
6 For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. Then on the seventh day, celebrate a feast to the LORD .
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You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. The seventh day is a festival to the LORD.
7 Eat 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.
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Only unleavened bread should be eaten for seven days. No leavened bread and no yeast should be seen among you in your whole country.
8 “On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the LORD did for me when I left Egypt.’
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You should explain to your child on that day, ‘It's because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
9 This 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.’
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“It will be a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead so that you will often discuss the LORD's Instruction, for the LORD brought you out of Egypt with great power.
10 So observe the decree of this festival at the appointed time each year.
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So you should follow this regulation at its appointed time every year.
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,
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"When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you as promised to you and your ancestors,
12 you must present all firstborn sons and firstborn male animals to the LORD, for they belong to him.
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you should set aside for the LORD whatever comes out of the womb first. All of the first males born to your animal belong to the LORD.
13 A 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.
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But every first male donkey you should ransom with a sheep. If you don't ransom it, you must break its neck. You should ransom every oldest male among your children.
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.
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When in the future your child asks you, ‘What does this mean?' you should answer, ‘The LORD brought us with great power out of Egypt, out of the place we were slaves.
15 Pharaoh 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.’
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When Pharaoh refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the oldest offspring in the land of Egypt, from the oldest sons to the oldest male animals. That is why I offer to the LORD as a sacrifice every male that first comes out of the womb. But I ransom my oldest sons.'
16 This 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.”
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It will be a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with great power."
17 When 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.”
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When Pharaoh let the people go, God didn't lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though that was the shorter route. God thought, If the people have to fight and face war, they will run back to Egypt.
18 So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.
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So God led the people by the roundabout way of the Reed Sea desert. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt ready for battle.
19 Moses 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.”
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Moses took with him Joseph's bones just as Joseph had made Israel's sons promise when he said to them, "When God takes care of you, you must carry my bones out of here with you."
20 The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
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They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.
21 The 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.
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The LORD went in front of them during the day in a column of cloud to guide them and at night in a column of lightning to give them light. This way they could travel during the day and at night.
22 And the LORD did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.
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The column of cloud during the day and the column of lightning at night never left its place in front of the people.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible