Exodus 12

The Passover Lamb

1Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of 1Egypt, 2“2This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. 3Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a 3lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a 4lamb for 5each household. 4Now if the household is too small for a 6lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the 7number of persons in them; according to 8what each man should eat, you are to 9divide the lamb. 5Your 10lamb shall be 11an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 612You shall keep it until the 13fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it 1415at twilight. 716Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel 17of the houses in which they eat it. 8They shall eat the flesh 18that same night, 19roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with 20unleavened bread 2122and bitter herbs. 9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather 23roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with 24its entrails. 1025And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. 11Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste--it is 26the Lord’s Passover. 12For 27I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and 28against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments--29I am the Lord. 1330The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you 31live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you 32to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Feast of Unleavened Bread

14‘Now 33this day will be 34a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as 3536a permanent ordinance. 1537Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall 38remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, 39that 40person shall be cut off from Israel. 1641On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten 42by every person, that alone may be 43prepared by you. 17You shall also observe 44the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this 45very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as 46a 47permanent ordinance. 1848In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 1949Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that 5051person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

21Then 52Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “53Go and 54take for yourselves 55lambs according to your families, and slay 56the Passover lamb. 2257You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and 58apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.

A Memorial of Redemption

23For 59the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will 60not allow the 61destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. 24And 62you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has 63promised, you shall observe this 64rite. 2665And when your children say to you, ‘66What does this rite mean to you?’ 27you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to 67the Lord 68who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but 69spared our homes.’” 70And the people bowed low and worshiped.

28Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29Now it came about at 71midnight that 72the Lord struck all 73the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of 74cattle. 30Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was 75a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. 31Then 76he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, 77get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, 78worship the Lord, as you have said. 32Take 79both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”

Exodus of Israel

3380The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” 34So the people took 81their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.

3582Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; 36and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they 83plundered the Egyptians.

37Now the 84sons of Israel journeyed from 85Rameses to Succoth, about 86six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. 38A 87mixed multitude also went up with them, 88along with flocks and herds, a 89very large number of livestock. 39They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were 90driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they 91prepared any provisions for themselves.

40Now the time 92that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was 93four hundred and thirty years. 41And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, 94to 95the very day, 96all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

Ordinance of the Passover

4297It is a night 98to be observed for the Lord for having brought them out from the land of Egypt; this night is for the Lord, 99to be observed 100by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.

43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of 101the Passover: no 102103foreigner is to eat of it; 44but every man’s 104slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45105A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, 106nor are you to break any bone of it. 47107All the congregation of Israel are to 108celebrate this. 48But 109if a 110stranger sojourns with you, and 111celebrates the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to 112celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49113114The same law shall 115apply to the native as to the 116stranger who sojourns among you.”

50Then all the sons of Israel did so; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51And on that same day 117the Lord brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt 118119by their hosts.