Exodus 12
1 The Lord told Moses and Aaron while they were still in Egypt,
The Lord also said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
2 “This month will be for you the first month, the first month of your year.
“This month will be for you the beginning of the months. It will be first in the months of the year.
3 Tell all the Israelites that on the tenth day of this month, every man must choose a lamb for his family, one for each household.
Speak to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day of this month, let everyone take a lamb, by their families and houses.
4 However, if the household is too small for a whole lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor may choose a lamb according to the total number of people. Divide up the lamb depending on what everybody can eat.
But if the number is less than may suffice to be able to consume the lamb, he shall accept his neighbor, who has been joined with his house according to the number of souls that may suffice to be able to eat the lamb.
5 Your lamb must be a year-old male without any defects, and you can take it either from the sheep or the goats.
And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a one year old male. According to this rite, you shall also take a young goat.
6 Keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the Israelites will slaughter the animals after sunset and before it gets dark.
And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. And the entire multitude of the sons of Israel shall immolate it toward evening.
7 They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they have the meal.
And they shall take from its blood, and place it on both the door posts and the upper threshold of the houses, in which they will consume it.
8 They are to roast the meat over a fire and eat it that night, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
And that night they shall eat the flesh, roasted by fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce.
9 You are not to eat the meat raw or boiled in water. All of it must be roasted it over a fire, including the head, legs, and its insides.
You shall not consume anything from it raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted by fire. You shall devour the head with its feet and entrails.
10 Make sure nothing is left until the morning. If there is anything left over, burn it by morning.
Neither shall there remain anything from it until morning. If anything will have been left over, you shall burn it with fire.
11 This is how you are to eat the meal. You should be dressed ready to travel, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. You are to eat quickly—it is the Lord's Passover.
Now you shall consume it in this way: You shall gird your waist, and you shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall consume it in haste. For it is the Passover (that is, the Crossing) of the Lord.
12 That very night I will go all through Egypt and kill every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring condemnation on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
And I will cross through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man, even to cattle. And I will bring judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
13 The blood on the houses where you live will mark them out. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. No deathly plague will fall on you to destroy you when I attack Egypt.
But the blood will be for you as a sign in the buildings where you will be. And I will see the blood, and I will pass over you. And the plague will not be with you to destroy, when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 This will be a day to remember for you. You are to celebrate it as a festival to the Lord for generations to come. You will observe this for all time to come.
Then you shall have this day as a memorial, and you shall celebrate it as a solemnity to the Lord, in your generations, as an everlasting devotion.
15 For seven days you must eat only bread made without yeast. On the first day you are to get rid of the yeast from your houses. Anyone who eats anything with yeast from the first day to seventh day must be excluded from the Israelite community.
For seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day there shall be no leaven in your houses. Whoever will consume anything leavened, from the first day, even until the seventh day, that soul shall perish from Israel.
16 On both the first day and on the seventh day you are to have a holy meeting. You must not work on those days, except to prepare food. That is all you are allowed to do.
The first day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day shall be venerated with the same festivity. You shall do no work in these days, except that which pertains to the eating.
17 You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I led your tribes by their respective divisions out of Egypt. You are to observe this day for all time to come.
And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. For on this same day, I will lead your army out of the land of Egypt, and you shall keep this day, in your generations, as a perpetual ritual.
18 In the first month you are to eat bread without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, toward evening, you shall consume the unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the same month, toward evening.
19 For seven days there must be no yeast in your houses. If anyone eats something with yeast in it, then they must be excluded from the Israelite community, whether they are a foreigner or native of the land.
For seven days, there shall not be found leaven in your houses. Whoever will eat leaven, his soul will perish from the assembly of Israel, as much with the newcomers as with the natives of the land.
20 You must not eat anything with yeast in it. Eat only bread without yeast in all your homes.”
You shall not consume any leaven. In all your dwelling places, you shall eat unleavened bread.”
21 Then Moses called together all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go immediately and choose a lamb for each of your families, and kill the Passover lamb.
Then Moses called all the elders of the sons of Israel, and he said to them: “Go, taking an animal by your families, and sacrifice the Passover.
22 Get a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and put some on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you are to go out through door of the house until morning.
And dip a little bundle of hyssop in the blood which is at the entrance, and sprinkle the upper threshold with it, and both of the door posts. Let none of you go out of the door of his house until morning.
23 When the Lord passes through to punish the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. He will pass over the door, and he will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and kill you.
For the Lord will cross through, striking the Egyptians. And when he will see the blood on the upper threshold, and on both the door posts, he will pass over the door of the house and not permit the Striker to enter into your houses or to do harm.
24 You and your descendants are to remember to observe these instructions for all time to come.
You shall keep this word as a law for you and for your sons, forever.
25 When you enter the land that the Lord promised to give you, you are to observe this ceremony.
And when you have entered into the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he has promised, you shall observe these ceremonies.
26 When your children come and ask you, ‘Why is this ceremony important to you?’
And when your sons will say to you, ‘What is the meaning of this religious observance?’
27 you are to tell them, ‘This is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord. He was the one who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he killed the Egyptians but spared our households.’” The people bowed down in worship.
You shall say to them: ‘It is the victim of the crossing of the Lord, when he passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, striking the Egyptians, and freeing our houses.’” And the people, bowing down, worshipped.
28 Then the Israelites went and did just as the Lord had told Moses and Aaron.
And the sons of Israel, departing, did just as the Lord had instructed Moses and Aaron.
29 At midnight the Lord killed every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the jail, and also all the firstborn of the livestock.
Then it happened, in the middle of the night: the Lord struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the captive woman who was in prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
30 Pharaoh got up during the night, as well as all his officials and all the Egyptians. There were loud cries of agony throughout Egypt, because there wasn't a single house where someone hadn't died.
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, and all his servants, and all of Egypt. And there arose a great outcry in Egypt. For there was not a house in which no one lay dead.
31 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron during the night and told them, “Get out of here! Leave my people, the two of you and the Israelites! Go, so you can worship the Lord as you have asked.
And Pharaoh, calling Moses and Aaron in the night, said: “Rise up and go forth from among my people, you and the sons of Israel. Go, sacrifice to the Lord, just as you say.
32 Take your flocks and herds as well, just like you've said, and leave! Oh, and bless me too.”
Your sheep and herds take along with you, as you requested, and as you go away, bless me.”
33 The Egyptians urged the Israelites to leave their country as quickly as possible, saying, “Otherwise we'll all die!”
And the Egyptians urged the people to go away from the land quickly, saying, “We will all die.”
34 So the Israelites picked up their dough before it had risen, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing.
Therefore, the people took bread dough before it was leavened. And tying it in their cloaks, they placed it on their shoulders.
35 In addition, the Israelites did what Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for objects of silver and gold, and for clothing.
And the sons of Israel did just as Moses had instructed. And they petitioned the Egyptians for vessels of silver and of gold, and very many garments.
36 The Lord had made the Egyptians look so favorably on the Israelites that they agreed their request. In this way they took the wealth of the Egyptians.
Then the Lord granted favor to the people in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they bestowed on them. And they despoiled the Egyptians.
37 The Israelites set out on foot from Rameses for Succoth and numbered about 600,000 men, as well as women and children.
And the sons of Israel set out from Rameses to Soccoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides little ones.
38 In addition many foreigners joined them. They also took with them large herds and flocks of livestock.
But also an innumerable mix of common people ascended with them, sheep and herds and animals of diverse kinds, exceedingly many.
39 Since their bread dough didn't have any yeast, the Israelites baked what they had brought out of Egypt into loaves without yeast. This was because when they were driven out of Egypt they had to leave in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare food for themselves.
And they baked the bread, which a little while ago they had taken out of Egypt as dough. And they made unleavened bread baked under ashes. For it was not able to be leavened, with the Egyptians compelling them to leave and not permitting them to cause any delay. Neither did they have occasion to prepare any meat.
40 The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years.
Now the habitation of the sons of Israel, while they remained in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
41 On the very day the 430 years ended, all the tribes of the Lord by their respective divisions left Egypt.
Having been completed, on the same day all the army of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt.
42 Because the Lord kept watch that night to lead them out of the land of Egypt, you are to keep watch this same night as an observance to honor the Lord, to be kept by all Israelites for generations to come.
This night is a worthy observance of the Lord, when he led them out of the land of Egypt. This all the sons of Israel must observe in their generations.
43 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “This is the Passover ceremony. No foreigner is allowed to eat it.
And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron: “This is the religious observance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat from it.
44 But any slave who has been bought can eat it once you have circumcised him.
But every bought servant shall be circumcised, and so he may eat from it.
45 Foreign visitors or those hired from other nations shall not eat the Passover.
The newcomer and the hired hand shall not eat from it.
46 It has to be eaten inside the house. You are not allowed to take any of the meat outside the house, or to break any of the bones.
In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry its flesh outside, nor shall you break its bone.
47 All Israelites are to celebrate it.
The entire assembly of the sons of Israel shall do this.
48 If there's a foreigner lives with you and wants to celebrate the Lord's Passover, all the males in their household have to be circumcised. Then he may come and celebrate it, and he shall be treated like a native of the land. But no man who is not circumcised may eat it.
And if any sojourner will be willing to cross over into your settlement, and to keep the Passover of the Lord, all his males shall first be circumcised, and then he shall celebrate the rite. And he shall be just like a native of the land. But if any man is not circumcised, he shall not eat from it.
49 The same rule applies to both the native and the foreigner who lives among you.”
The law shall be the same for the native born and for the settler who sojourns with you.”
50 Then all the Israelites followed these instructions. They did exactly what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
And all the sons of Israel did just as the Lord had instructed Moses and Aaron.
51 That very day the Lord led the Israelite tribes out of Egypt by their respective tribal divisions.
And on the same day, the Lord led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their companies.
