And when your children say to you has the same form as verse 25, literally “And it shall be that your sons will say to you [plural].” Since a question follows, Good News Translation has “When your children ask you.” What do you mean by this service is literally “What is this service to you [plural].” The same word for service is used in verse 25.

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• Your children will say to you, “What does this festival mean?”

• … “Why are you celebrating like this?”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .