These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family:

“Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.

They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.

Then you will say to Pharaoh: This is what Yahweh says: Israel is My firstborn son.

Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness.”

But Pharaoh responded, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know anything about Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

These are the heads of their fathers’ families:

The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel:
Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.
These are the clans of Reuben.

But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die.”

But against all the Israelites, whether man or beast, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ households, one animal per household.

You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.

You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel.

Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreign resident or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel.

Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.

The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said: “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”

He caused their chariot wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty. “Let’s get away from Israel,” the Egyptians said, “because Yahweh is fighting for them against Egypt!”

That day the Lord saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

When Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.

Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water.

The house of Israel named the substance manna. It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers made with honey.

The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go.

I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

At Rephidim, Amalek came and fought against Israel.

While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed.

Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that confronted them on the way, and how the Lord delivered them.

Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the Lord had done for Israel when He rescued them from the power of the Egyptians.

Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods, because He did wonders when the Egyptians acted arrogantly against Israel.”

Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in God’s presence.

So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

After they departed from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

Then He said to Moses, “Go up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s elders, and bow in worship at a distance.

And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain.

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s elders,

and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire stone, as clear as the sky itself.

“Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel’s sons:

Engrave the two stones with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal. Mount them, surrounded with gold filigree settings.

The 12 stones are to correspond to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone must be engraved like a seal, with one of the names of the 12 tribes.

“Whenever he enters the sanctuary, Aaron is to carry the names of Israel’s sons over his heart on the breastpiece for decisions, as a continual reminder before the Lord.

He took the gold from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf.

Then they said, “Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”

They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”

Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel—You swore to them by Your very self and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.’”

He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.

The Lord also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.”

Then they mounted the onyx stones surrounded with gold filigree settings, engraved with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal.

The 12 stones corresponded to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone was engraved like a seal with one of the names of the 12 tribes.

For the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and there was a fire inside the cloud by night, visible to the entire house of Israel throughout all the stages of their journey.