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12 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe and Aharon in Eretz Mitzrayim saying,

Hachodesh hazeh (this month) shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Speak ye unto kol Adat Yisroel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a seh (lamb [see Yeshayah 53:7]), according to the bais avot, a seh for each bais;

And if the household be too small for the seh (lamb [see Yeshayah 53:7]), let him and his neighbor next unto his bais take according to the number of the nefashot; every ish according to what he eats shall make up your count for the seh.

Your seh (lamb [see Yeshayah 53:7]) shall be tamim (without blemish), a zachar (male) within its first year; ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats;

And it will be with you for mishmeret (examination, checking for blemishes) up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and kol Kehal Adat Yisroel shall slaughter (shachat) it in the afternoon [before dark].

And they shall take of the dahm, and strike it upon the two mezuzot (doorposts) and on the mashkof (lintel) of the batim (houses), wherein they shall eat it.

And they shall eat the basar in that night, roasted over eish, and matzot; and with maror they shall eat it. [See Yochanan 6:53-54 where Moshiach alludes to this verse and Isaiah 53:7.]

Eat not of it raw, nor soaked or boiled in mayim, but roasted over eish; this includes its rosh with its legs, and with the inner parts thereof.

10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the boker; and that which remaineth of it until the boker ye shall burn with eish.

11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your robe girded up [i.e., pulled up and tucked in under the belt, for travel], your sandals on your feet, and your walking staff in your yad; and ye shall eat it with urgent haste; it is Hashem’s Pesach.

12 For I will pass through Eretz Mitzrayim balailah hazeh, and will strike fatally kol bechor Eretz Mitzrayim, both adam and behemah; and against all the elohei Mitzrayim I will execute judgment; I am Hashem.

13 And the dahm shall be for you, an ot (sign) upon the batim (houses) where ye are; and when I see the dahm, oofasachti (then I will pass over, skip, spare) you [plural], and the negef (plague, blow, striking, i.e., death of firstborn) shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I strike fatally with a blow against Eretz Mitzrayim.

14 And hayom hazeh shall be unto you for zikaron (remembrance, remembering); and ye shall keep it a Chag (Feast) to Hashem throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a Chag (Feast) by a chukkat olam.

15 Shivat yamim shall ye eat matzot; but the first day ye shall put away se’or (yeast, leaven) out of your batim (houses); for whosoever eateth chametz from the first day until the seventh day, that nefesh shall be cut off from Yisroel.

16 And in the yom harishon there shall be a mikra kodesh, and in the yom hashevi’i there shall be a mikra kodesh to you; no manner of melachah shall be done in them, except that which every nefesh must eat [i.e., activity necessary for the preparation of food], that only may be done of you.

17 And ye shall be shomer to safeguard the matzot; for on this very day I brought your tzva’os out of Eretz Mitzrayim; therefore shall ye be shomer over this day in your generations by a chukkat olam.

18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at erev, ye shall eat matzot, until the one and twentieth day of the month at erev.

19 Shivat yamim shall there be no se’or (yeast, leaven) found in your batim (houses); whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that nefesh shall be cut off from Adat Yisroel, whether he be a ger, or native born in ha’aretz.

20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellingplaces shall ye eat matzot.

21 Then Moshe called for all the Ziknei Yisroel, and said unto them, Draw out as separate and take for yourselves a lamb according to your mishpokhot, and slaughter (shachat) the Pesach [offering, i.e., Pesach lamb (see Yeshayah 53:7)].

22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the dahm that is in the basin, and strike the mashkof (lintel) and the two mezuzot (door sideposts) with the dahm that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out the door of his bais until boker.

23 For Hashem will pass through to strike the Mitzrayim; and when He seeth the dahm upon the mashkof, and on the two mezuzot, Hashem will pasach (pass over, spare, skip) the entrance, and will not permit the Mashkhit (Destroyer, i.e., Hashem’s emissary of judgment, [see Num 22:31 on the Malach Hashem]) to enter unto your batim to strike.

24 And ye shall be shomer over this word as a chok (ordinance) to thee and your children ad olam (forever).

25 And it shall come to pass, when ye come to ha’aretz which Hashem will give to you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall be shomer over this avodah.

26 And it shall come to pass, when your banim shall say unto you, Mah haavodah hazot lachem (What is this avodah to you)?

27 That ye shall say, It is the zevach of Hashem’s Pesach, who pasach (passed over, skipped, spared) the batim (households) of the Bnei Yisroel in Mitzrayim, when He struck down the Egyptians, and spared bateinu (our houses). And the people bowed down and worshiped.

28 And the Bnei Yisroel went away, and did as Hashem had commanded Moshe and Aharon, so did they.

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight Hashem struck down kol bechor in Eretz Mitzrayim, from the bechor of Pharaoh sitting on his throne unto the bechor of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the bechor behemah.

30 And Pharaoh rose up in the lailah, he, and all his avadim, and kol Mitzrayim; and there was a tze’akah gedolah (great wail) in Mitzrayim; for there was not a bais where there was not one dead.

31 And he called for Moshe and Aharon by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth, leave from among my people, both ye and the Bnei Yisroel; and go, serve Hashem, as ye have said.

32 Also take your tzon and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.

33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of ha’aretz in haste; for they said, Kullanu mesim (We are all dead ones).

34 And the people took their batzek (deaf dough, having no indication of fermentation [see 1C 5:7 OJBC]) before it was leavened, their kneading pans being wrapped up in their clothes [and carried] upon their shoulders.

35 And the Bnei Yisroel did according to the devar Moshe; they requested of the Egyptians k’lei kesef, and k’lei zahav, and garments;

36 And Hashem gave the people favor in the sight of the Mitzrayim, so that they granted their request. So they plundered the Egyptians.

37 And the Bnei Yisroel journeyed from Rameses towards Sukkot, about 600,000 gevarim on foot, not counting women and children.

38 And an erev rav (mixed multitude, a mixed company that was large) went along also with them; and tzon, and herds, even very many domestic animals.

39 And they baked the batzek (deaf dough) which they brought forth out of Mitzrayim, into round flat cakes of matzot; ki lo chametz, because they were thrust out of Mitzrayim, and could not tarry (linger), neither had they prepared for tzeidah (supply of food, provision).

40 Now the moshav (time period of residence) of the Bnei Yisroel dwelling in Mitzrayim was four hundred and thirty shanah.

41 And it came to pass at the ketz (end) of the four hundred and thirty shanah, even the exact day it came to pass, that kol Tzivos Hashem went out from Eretz Mitzrayim.

42 It is a night of shimmurim (keepings, watchings, vigils) for Hashem to keep watch to bring them out from Eretz Mitzrayim; this is halailah hazeh unto Hashem; shimmurim (watchings, vigils) for kol Bnei Yisroel in their dorot.

43 And Hashem said unto Moshe and Aharon, This is the Chukkat HaPesach: there shall no ben nekhar eat thereof;

44 But every man’s eved that is bought for kesef, when thou hast given him bris milah, then shall he eat thereof.

45 A toshav and a sachir shall not eat thereof.

46 In bais echad shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth any of the basar outside the bais; neither shall ye break a bone thereof [see Yochanan 19:36 OJBC].

47 Kol Adat Yisroel shall celebrate it.

48 And when a ger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Pesach unto Hashem, let all his zachar receive bris milah, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is native born in ha’aretz; for no arel (uncircumcised person) shall eat thereof.

49 Torah echad shall be to him that is native-born, and unto the ger that sojourneth among you.

50 Thus did kol Bnei Yisroel; as Hashem commanded Moshe and Aharon, so did they.

51 And it came to pass the very same day, that Hashem did bring the Bnei Yisroel out of Eretz Mitzrayim by their tzivos.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread(A)

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month,(B) the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[a](C) for his family, one for each household.(D) If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect,(E) and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month,(F) when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.(G) Then they are to take some of the blood(H) and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night(I) they are to eat the meat roasted(J) over the fire, along with bitter herbs,(K) and bread made without yeast.(L) Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs.(M) 10 Do not leave any of it till morning;(N) if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste;(O) it is the Lord’s Passover.(P)

12 “On that same night I will pass through(Q) Egypt and strike down(R) every firstborn(S) of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods(T) of Egypt. I am the Lord.(U) 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over(V) you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.(W)

14 “This is a day you are to commemorate;(X) for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.(Y) 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.(Z) On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off(AA) from Israel. 16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work(AB) at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.

17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread,(AC) because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt.(AD) Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.(AE) 18 In the first month(AF) you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner(AG) or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off(AH) from the community of Israel. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live,(AI) you must eat unleavened bread.”(AJ)

21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover(AK) lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop,(AL) dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood(AM) on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike(AN) down the Egyptians, he will see the blood(AO) on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over(AP) that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer(AQ) to enter your houses and strike you down.

24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance(AR) for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land(AS) that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children(AT) ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover(AU) sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”(AV) Then the people bowed down and worshiped.(AW) 28 The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded(AX) Moses and Aaron.

29 At midnight(AY) the Lord(AZ) struck down all the firstborn(BA) in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock(BB) as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing(BC) in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

The Exodus

31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship(BD) the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds,(BE) as you have said, and go. And also bless(BF) me.”

33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry(BG) and leave(BH) the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”(BI) 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs(BJ) wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold(BK) and for clothing.(BL) 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed(BM) toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered(BN) the Egyptians.

37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses(BO) to Sukkoth.(BP) There were about six hundred thousand men(BQ) on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people(BR) went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out(BS) of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt[b] was 430 years.(BT) 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions(BU) left Egypt.(BV) 42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.(BW)

Passover Restrictions

43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:(BX)

“No foreigner(BY) may eat it. 44 Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised(BZ) him, 45 but a temporary resident or a hired worker(CA) may not eat it.

46 “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.(CB) 47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

48 “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.(CC) No uncircumcised(CD) male may eat it. 49 The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner(CE) residing among you.”

50 All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded(CF) Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt(CG) by their divisions.(CH)

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 12:3 The Hebrew word can mean lamb or kid; also in verse 4.
  2. Exodus 12:40 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint Egypt and Canaan

12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover.

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.

17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.

18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.

19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.

20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.

25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.

26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.

28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.

32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.

33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.

34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:

36 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.

38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

42 It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.

43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:

44 But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.

45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.

46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.