Passover

12 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ² “This month will be the first month of the year for you. ³ Both of you are to tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb. It is for the people in his house. ⁴ There may not be enough people in his house to eat a whole lamb. Then he must share it with his closest neighbor. There must be enough lamb for everyone to eat. ⁵ The lamb must be a one-year-old male. It must have nothing wrong with it. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. ⁶ Keep the animal with you to take care of it until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day all the people of the community of Israel will kill these animals. They will do this as soon as the sun goes down. ⁷ The people must take some of the blood. They must put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes. These are the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ On this night they must roast the lamb over a fire. Then they must eat it with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole lamb over a fire—with its head, legs and inner organs. ¹⁰ You must not leave any of it until morning. But if any of it is left over until morning, you must burn it with fire.

¹¹ “This is the way you must eat it: You must be fully dressed as if you were going on a trip. You must have your sandals on, and you must have your walking stick in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry. This is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “That night I will go through the land of Egypt. I will kill all the firstborn of animals and people in the land of Egypt. I will punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ But the blood will be a sign on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing terrible will hurt you when I punish the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “You are always to remember this day. Celebrate it with a feast to the Lord. Your descendants are to honor the Lord with this feast from now on. ¹⁵ For this feast you must eat bread made without yeast for seven days. On the first day of this feast, you are to remove all the yeast from your houses. No one should eat any yeast for the full seven days of the feast. If anyone eats yeast, then that person will be separated from Israel. ¹⁶ You are to have holy meetings on the first and last days of the feast. You must not do any work on these days. The only work you may do on these days is to prepare your meals. ¹⁷ You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Do this because on this very day I brought your divisions of people out of Egypt. So all of your descendants must celebrate this day. This is a law that will last from now on. ¹⁸ You are to eat bread made without yeast. Start this on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month of your year. Eat this until the evening of the twenty-first day. ¹⁹ For seven days there must not be any yeast in your houses. Anybody who eats yeast during this time must be separated from the community of Israel. This includes Israelites and non-Israelites. ²⁰ During this feast you must not eat yeast. You must eat bread made without yeast wherever you live.”

²¹ Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together. He told them, “Get the animals for your families. Kill the animals for the Passover. ²² Take a branch of the hyssop plant and dip it into the bowl filled with blood. Wipe the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes. No one may leave his house until morning. ²³ The Lord will go through Egypt to kill the Egyptians. He will see the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes. Then the Lord will pass over that house. He will not let the one who brings death come into your houses and kill you.

²⁴ “You must keep this command. This law is for you and your descendants from now on. ²⁵ Do this when you go to the land the Lord has promised to give to you. ²⁶ When your children ask you, ‘Why are we doing these things?’ ²⁷ you will say, ‘This is the Passover sacrifice to honor the Lord. When we were in Egypt, the Lord passed over the houses of Israel. The Lord killed the Egyptians, but he saved our homes.’” So now the people bowed down and worshiped the Lord. ²⁸ They did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ At midnight the Lord killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt. The firstborn of the king, who sat on the throne, died. Even the firstborn of the prisoner in jail died. Also all the firstborn farm animals died. ³⁰ The king, his officers and all the Egyptians got up during the night. Someone had died in every house. So there was loud crying everywhere in Egypt.

Israel Leaves Egypt

³¹ During the night the king called for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “Get up and leave my people. You and your people may do as you have asked. Go and worship the Lord. ³² Take all of your sheep and cattle as you have asked. Go. And also bless me.” ³³ The Egyptians also asked the Israelites to hurry and leave. They said, “If you don’t leave, we will all die!”

³⁴ The people of Israel took their dough before the yeast was added. They wrapped the bowls for making dough in clothing and carried them on their shoulders. ³⁵ The people of Israel did what Moses told them to do. They asked their Egyptian neighbors for things made of silver and gold and for clothing. ³⁶ The Lord caused the Egyptians to think well of the Israelites. So the Israelites took rich gifts from the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth. There were about 600,000 men walking. This does not include the women and children. ³⁸ Many other people who were not Israelites went with them. A large number of sheep, goats and cattle went with them. ³⁹ The Israelites used the dough they had brought out of Egypt. They baked loaves of bread without yeast. The dough had no yeast in it because they had been rushed out of Egypt. So they had no time to get food ready for their trip.

⁴⁰ The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. ⁴¹ On the day the 430 years ended, the Lord’s divisions of people left Egypt. ⁴² That night the Lord kept watch to bring them out of Egypt. So on this same night the Israelites are to keep watch. They are to do this to honor the Lord from now on.

⁴³ The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “Here are the rules for Passover: No foreigner is to eat the Passover. ⁴⁴ Suppose a person buys a slave and circumcises him. Then the slave may eat the Passover. ⁴⁵ But no one who lives for a short time in your country may eat it. No hired worker may eat it.

⁴⁶ “The meal must be eaten inside the house. None of the meat is to be taken outside the house. Don’t break any of the bones. ⁴⁷ The whole community of Israel must take part in this feast. ⁴⁸ A foreigner who lives with you may share in the Lord’s Passover. But first all the males in his house must be circumcised. Then, since he will be like a citizen of Israel, he may share in the meal. But a man who is not circumcised may not eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁹ The same rules apply to an Israelite born in the country. And they apply to a foreigner living there.”

⁵⁰ So all the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ Then on that same day, the Lord led the Israelites out of Egypt. The people left by divisions.