Consecration of the Firstborn

13 The Lord said to Moses,

^2 (A)“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

^12 (A)you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. ^13 (B)Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every ^(C)firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. ^14 (D)And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ^(E)‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of ^(F)slavery. ¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the ^(G)Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but ^(H)all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

^19 (A)All that open the womb are mine, all your male^[a] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep.

²⁰ The ^(A)firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And ^(B)none shall appear before me empty-handed.