Exodus 12:21-28
New Catholic Bible
21 Celebration of the Passover. Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go and obtain a lamb for each family and slaughter it for the Passover.[a] 22 Take a bunch of hyssop[b] and dip it into the blood in the bowl and sprinkle the blood from the bowl on the lintel and the two doorposts. None of you shall go outside until the morning. 23 The Lord will pass over to strike the Egyptians. He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts. The Lord will, therefore, pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter into your house to strike anyone there.[c]
24 “You shall observe this command as a fixed rite for yourselves and your children forever. 25 When you will have entered into the land that the Lord will give you, as he promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this rite of yours mean,’ 27 you shall tell them, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Passover of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and spared our houses.’ ”
The people knelt down and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went and did exactly what the Lord had ordered Moses and Aaron.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 12:21 The reference is to the Passover lamb (Mt 26:17; 1 Cor 5:7)
- Exodus 12:22 Hyssop: was an aromatic plant used in purification rites.
- Exodus 12:23 The destroying angel, charged with inflicting punishment; see 1 Cor 10:10; Heb 11:28.
