Êxodo 12

The Passover Lamb

1 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of *12:1 Lit Egypt, sayingEgypt, 2 "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a *12:3 Or kidlamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a *12:3 Or kidlamb for *12:3 Lit theeach household. 4 Now if the household is too small for a *12:4 Or kidlamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the *12:4 Or amountnumber of persons in them; in proportion to *12:4 Lit each man’s eatingwhat each one should eat, you are to *12:4 Lit compute fordivide the lamb. 5 Your *12:5 Or kidlamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 *12:6 Lit It shall be to you for a guardingYou shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it *12:6 Lit between the two eveningsat twilight. 7 Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel *12:7 Lit uponof the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread *12:8 Lit in addition toand bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 10 And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire. 11 Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment*12:11 I.e., for travelbelted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you *12:13 Lit arelive; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you *12:13 Lit for destructionto destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Feast of Unleavened Bread

14 ‘Now this day shall be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as*12:14 Or an eternala permanent ordinance. 15 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove dough with yeast from your houses; for whoever eats anything with yeast from the first day until the seventh day, that *12:15 Lit soulperson shall be cut off from Israel. 16 And on the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except for what must be eaten by every person—that alone may be *12:16 Lit doneprepared by you. 17 You shall also keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your *12:17 Lit armiesmultitudes out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a *12:17 Or eternalpermanent ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days there shall be no dough with yeast found in your houses; for whoever eats anything with yeast, that *12:19 Lit soulperson shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall not eat anything with yeast; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ "

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and take for yourselves *12:21 Lit sheeplambs according to your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb.22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and *12:22 Lit cause to touchapply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.

A Memorial of Redemption

23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; but when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you.24 And you shall keep this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has *12:25 Lit spokenpromised, you shall keep this *12:25 Lit servicerite. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘*12:26 Lit What is this service to you?What does this rite mean to you?’ 27 then you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord because He passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but *12:27 Lit deliveredspared our homes.’ " And the people bowed low and worshiped.

28 Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29 Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 And Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. 31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, "Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, *12:31 Or serveworship the Lord, as you have said. 32 Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also."

Exodus of Israel

33 The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in a hurry, for they said, "We will all be dead." 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.

35 Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; 36 and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Therefore they plundered the Egyptians.

37 Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, *12:38 Lit andalong with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. 39 And they baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had no yeast, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they *12:39 Lit madeprepared any provisions for themselves.

40 Now the time *12:40 Or of the sons of Israel who livedthat the sons of Israel had lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 And at the end of 430 years, on this very day, all the *12:41 Lit armiesmultitudes of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt.

Ordinance of the Passover

42 It is a night *12:42 Or of vigilto be observed for the Lord, for having brought them out of the land of Egypt; this night is for the Lord, *12:42 Or of vigilto be observed by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.

43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: no *12:43 Lit son of a strangerforeigner is to eat it; 44 but as for every slave *12:44 Lit of a man, an acquisition of moneythat someone has purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A stranger or a hired worker shall not eat it. 46 It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring any of the meat outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47 All the congregation of Israel are to *12:47 Lit performcelebrate this. 48 But if a stranger resides with you and *12:48 Lit performscelebrates the Passover to the Lord, all of his males are to be circumcised, and then he shall come near to *12:48 Lit performcelebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised male may eat it. 49 *12:49 Lit One lawThe same law shall *12:49 Lit beapply to the native as to the stranger who resides among you."

50 Then all the sons of Israel did so; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their *12:51 I.e., multitudes in battle formationmultitudes.