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1The Lord spoke to Moses:
2“Set apart all the firstborn for me, the firstborn of every mother among the Israelites, both people and animals. The firstborn belongs to me.”[#13:2 Literally the opener of every womb . Jewish tradition, however, focuses more on the firstborn sons of fathers. This verse seems to be a general statement of a principle, for which details are given later. It is not clear how the principle was to be applied to flocks.]
3Then Moses said this to the people:
17When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by the way that goes to the land of the Philistines, although it was more direct, for God said, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.”
18So God led the people by the way that goes through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up from the land of Egypt in battle formation.[#13:18 The Hebrew name for the sea, , seems to mean Sea of Reeds and includes the present Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez west of the Sinai Peninsula, and the Gulf of Aqaba east of the Sinai Peninsula.]
19Moses also took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. Joseph had said, “God will surely come to your aid. Then you must bring up my bones with you from Egypt.”
20They set out from Sukkoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
21The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on their way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light. In this way they could travel by day and by night.
22The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.