< Exodus 12 >

1 Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me there in Egypt,
And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
2 “[From now on], this month [will be] the first month of the year for you.
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 Tell all the Israeli people that in each family, the man who heads the family must select a lamb or a young goat for his household.
Speak unto all the assembly of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month let them take themselves each a lamb, for a father's house, a lamb for a house.
4 If there are not enough people in his family to eat a whole [cooked] lamb, then his family and the family that lives next door may share one animal. Decide how many lambs you need according to the number of people in each family, and according to how much each person can eat.
And if the household be too small for a lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take [it] according to the number of the souls; each according to [the measure] of his eating shall ye count for the lamb.
5 The lambs or goats that you choose must be males, one-year-old, and they must not have any defects.
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; ye shall take [it] from the sheep, or from the goats.
6 You must take [special] care of these animals until the 14th day of the month. On that day, all the Israeli people must slaughter the lambs [or goats] in the evening.
And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings.
7 Then they must take some of the blood [from the lambs or goats], and they must smear it on the doorposts and the (lintels/horizontal beams above the doorways) of the houses in which they will eat the meat.
And they shall take of the blood, and put [it] on the two door-posts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
8 They must roast the animals immediately and eat the meat that night. They must eat it with bread that is baked without yeast and with bitter herbs.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter [herbs] shall they eat it.
9 You must not eat any of the meat raw, and you must not boil the meat. You must roast it [whole], without cutting off the head or the legs or removing the internal parts.
Ye shall eat none of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with its in-wards.
10 You must eat all the meat that evening; do not let any of the meat remain [to be eaten] the next morning. If any of the meat is left until the next morning, you must [completely] burn it.
And ye shall let none of it remain until the morning; and what remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11 When you eat it, you must be dressed ready to travel, and you must eat it quickly. You must have your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hands. It will be a festival [called] Passover to [honor] me, Yahweh.
And thus shall ye eat it: your loins shall be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is Jehovah's passover.
12 On that night I will go through all the country of Egypt, and I will kill all the oldest males in Egypt, both humans and animals. [By doing this] I will show that all the gods in Egypt are worthless. [I can do this], because I am Yahweh, [the all-powerful God].
And I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and 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 Jehovah.
13 The blood [that you smear on the doorways will be a mark to indicate] the houses in which you [Israelis] live. When I see the blood, I will [ignore and] pass by those houses, and I will not harm you [Israelis who live there], when I punish the Egyptians.
And the blood shall be for you as a sign on the houses in which ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be among you for destruction, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 [Each year], you must celebrate this festival on this day, to remember [what I], Yahweh, [have done for you]. In all the generations to come, [each year] you must celebrate [this festival]. [It must continue] forever.
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall celebrate it [as] a feast to Jehovah; throughout your generations [as] an ordinance for ever shall ye celebrate it.
15 For seven days you must eat bread that has no yeast in it. On the first day of that week you must get rid of all the yeast that is in your houses. During those seven days, if anyone eats bread that is baked with yeast in it, [you must consider] that person to be no longer an Israeli.
Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread: on the very first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day — that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 On the first day [of that week], you must (have a holy meeting/gather together to [worship] me). You must do the same thing on the seventh day. People must not work on those two days. The only work they may do is to prepare food for you to eat.
And on the first day ye shall have a holy convocation, and on the seventh day a holy convocation: no manner of work shall be done on them, save what is eaten by every person — that only shall be done by you.
17 [Every year] you must keep celebrating this festival of eating bread that has no yeast in it, because it will remind you that it was on this day that I brought all your tribal groups out of Egypt. So [every year], in all the generations to come, you must celebrate this day as a festival. It must continue forever.
And ye shall keep the [feast of] unleavened [bread]; for in this same day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; and ye shall keep this day in your generations [as] an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month of the year, on the 14th day of that month, the only bread you may eat is bread that has no yeast in it. You must keep doing that each day until the 21st day of that month. For those seven days you must not have any yeast in your house. [During that time], if anyone, either an Israeli or a foreigner, eats bread made with yeast, you must consider that person no longer to be an Israeli.
In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month in the evening.
Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eateth what is leavened — that soul shall be cut off from the assembly of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or born in the land.
20 In your houses, do not eat anything that has yeast in it during those seven days.”
Ye shall eat nothing leavened: in all your dwellings shall ye eat unleavened bread.
21 Then Moses/I summoned all the leaders of the Israeli people. He/I said to them, “Each family should select a lamb and kill it, [in order that you may eat it to celebrate the festival that will be called] ‘Passover’.
And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Seize and take yourselves lambs for your families, and kill the passover.
22 Let the lamb’s blood [drain into] a basin. Get a bunch/sprig of (hyssop/a very leafy plant) and dip it in the blood. Then smear some of the blood on the doorposts and the (lintels/beams above the doorways) [of your houses]. The people in each house must all stay inside the house until the next morning.
And take a bunch of hyssop, and dip [it] in the blood that is in the bason, and smear the lintel and the two door-posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
23 When Yahweh goes throughout Egypt to kill the [oldest male in each] Egyptian family, he will see the blood on the (lintels/beams of your doorways), and he will [ignore and] pass by those houses. He will not allow the angel who causes people to die to enter your houses and kill [any of] your [oldest sons].
And Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door-posts, Jehovah will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite [you].
24 You and your descendants must celebrate this festival forever.
And ye shall observe this as an ordinance for thee and for thy sons for ever.
25 And when you arrive in the land that Yahweh will be giving to you as he promised, you must keep celebrating this ritual [every year].
And it shall come to pass, when ye are come into the land that Jehovah will give you, as he has promised, that ye shall keep this service.
26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean?’,
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean ye by this service?
27 you must tell them, ‘This ritual is [to remember how our ancestors] sacrificed [lambs] on the night that Yahweh’s angel passed by the houses of the Israeli people [when they were] in Egypt. He killed the [oldest males/sons in all] the Egyptian houses, but he spared [the sons in] [MTY] our houses.’” After Moses/I told them this, they all bowed their heads and worshiped [Yahweh].
that ye shall say, It is a sacrifice of passover to Jehovah, 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 their heads and worshipped.
28 Then the Israeli people did what Yahweh had told Aaron and Moses/me [to tell them to do].
And the children of Israel went away, and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron; so did they.
29 At midnight Yahweh killed all the oldest sons of the Egyptian people, all over Egypt. That included the king’s oldest son, the oldest sons of the prisoners in the dungeon/jail, and [the oldest sons of everyone else]. He also killed the oldest males of all the Egyptians’ livestock.
And it came to pass that at midnight Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
30 That night the king, all his officials, and [all the rest of] the Egyptian people awoke [and discovered what had happened]. They wailed loudly all over Egypt, because in every house, someone’s son had died.
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his bondmen, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house in which there was not one dead.
31 That night the king summoned Aaron and Moses/me and said, “You and all the [other] Israeli people, must leave my country [immediately]! Go and worship Yahweh, as you requested!
And he called Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, Rise up, go away from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve Jehovah, as ye have said.
32 Take your flocks [of sheep and goats] and herds [of cattle], and leave! And ask Yahweh to bless me, also!”
Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and go; and bless me also.
33 Then the Israeli people did as Moses/I had told them. They [went to] their Egyptian [neighbors] and asked them for silver and gold jewelry and clothing.
And the Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We are all dead [men]!
34 Yahweh caused the Egyptian people to greatly respect the [Israeli] people, so they gave them what they asked for. In that way, they carried away the wealth of the Egyptian people.
And the people took their dough before it was leavened; their kneading-troughs bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
35 The Egyptians urged the [Israeli] people to leave their country quickly. They said, “[If you do not do that], we will all die!”
And the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked of the Egyptians utensils of silver, and utensils of gold, and clothing.
36 So the [Israeli] people [prepared to leave at once]. They took the bowls in which they mixed the dough to make bread, and the dough that was in the bowls without any yeast in it, and they wrapped the bowls in their cloaks. They put the bowls on their shoulders [and left].
And Jehovah had given the people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they gave to them; and they spoiled the Egyptians.
37 The Israeli people traveled from Rameses [city] to Succoth [town]. There were about 600,000 men who went, in addition to the women and children.
And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot [that were] men, besides children.
38 Many other people who were not Israelis went along with them. There were also livestock, the flocks [of sheep and goats] and herds [of cattle].
And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks and herds — very much cattle.
39 On their way, they baked bread with the dough that they carried with them when they had been expelled from Egypt. The dough did not have yeast in it, because they were told to leave Egypt so quickly that they did not have enough time to get food ready to take with them, or enough time to mix yeast in the dough.
And they baked the dough that they brought forth out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for it was not leavened; for they were driven out of Egypt, and could not wait; neither had they prepared for themselves any food.
40 The Israeli people had lived in Egypt 430 years.
And the residence of the children of Israel that they resided in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.
41 On the day that those 430 years ended, on that very day, all the tribes of Yahweh’s people left Egypt.
And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that same day it came to pass that all the hosts of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt.
42 It was a night when Yahweh (protected/guarded over) them as he brought them out of Egypt. So this same night every year is a night that is dedicated to Yahweh, a night when the Israeli people in every generation [remember how] Yahweh protected our ancestors.
It is a night of observance to Jehovah, because of their being brought out from the land of Egypt: that same night is an observance to Jehovah for all the children of Israel in their generations.
43 Then Yahweh said this to Aaron and Moses/me: “These are my instructions about the Passover ritual: Do not let foreigners eat [the Passover meal]. But any male slaves that you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised them.
And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: No stranger shall eat of it;
but every man's bondman that is bought for money — let him be circumcised: then shall he eat it.
45 Do not let people who are living among you temporarily, or servants whom you have hired, eat [the Passover meal].
A settler and a hired servant shall not eat it.
46 Each family must eat the Passover meal inside their own house. Do not take any of the food outside the house. And do not break any of the bones of the lamb that is sacrificed.
In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth any of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
47 All the Israeli people must celebrate this festival.
All the assembly of Israel shall hold it.
48 When someone from another country comes to live with you and wants to celebrate the Passover Festival, circumcise all the males in his household. Then they may eat the Passover meal, and you should treat those people as though they were born as Israelis. But do not allow men who have not been circumcised to eat the Passover meal.
And when a sojourner sojourneth with thee, and would hold the passover to Jehovah, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and hold it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
49 These rules apply to people who were born as Israelis and to foreigners who come and live among you.”
One law shall be for him that is home-born and for the sojourner that sojourneth among you.
50 All the Israeli people obeyed Aaron and Moses/me and did what Yahweh had commanded.
And all the children of Israel did as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron; so did they.
51 On that very day Yahweh brought all the tribes of the Israeli people out of Egypt.
And it came to pass on that same day, [that] Jehovah brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their hosts.

< Exodus 12 >