1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,2‘This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.3Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[1] for his family, one for each household.4If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbour, 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.5The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.6Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.7Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door-frames of the houses where they eat the lambs.8That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.9Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire – with the head, legs and internal organs.10Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.11This 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; it is the Lord’s Passover.12‘On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.13The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.14‘This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord – a lasting ordinance.15For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day until the seventh must be cut off from Israel.16On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work 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, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.18In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.19For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel.20Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.’21Then 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 lamb.22Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the door-frame. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.23When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the door-frame and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.24‘Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants.25When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.26And when your children ask you, “What does this ceremony mean to you?”27then tell them, “It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.” ’ Then the people bowed down and worshipped.28The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.29At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn 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 as well.30Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
The exodus
31During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.32Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.’33The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. ‘For otherwise,’ they said, ‘we will all die!’34So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing.35The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing.36The Lord had made the Egyptians favourably disposed towards the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.37The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.38Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.39With 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 of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.40Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt[2] was 430 years.41At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.42Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honour the Lord for the generations to come.
Passover restrictions
43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘These are the regulations for the Passover meal: ‘No foreigner may eat it.44Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him,45but a temporary resident or a hired worker 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.47The 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. No uncircumcised male may eat it.49The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.’50All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.51And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.
Exodus 12
English Standard Version
The Passover
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,2“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. (Ex 13:4; Ex 23:15; Ex 34:18; De 16:1)3Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. (Ex 12:21)4And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, (Le 22:19; De 17:1; Mal 1:8; Mal 1:14; Heb 9:14)6and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.[1] (Ex 12:18; Le 23:5; Nu 9:3; Nu 28:16; Jos 5:10; Ezr 6:19)7“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. (Ex 12:22)8They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. (Ex 23:18; Ex 34:25; Nu 9:11; De 16:3; 1Co 5:8)9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. (De 16:7; 2Ch 35:13)10And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. (Ex 23:18; Ex 29:34; Ex 34:25; Le 7:15; De 16:4)11In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. (Ex 12:27; Le 23:5; De 16:5; Lu 12:35; 1Co 5:7; Eph 6:14; 1Pe 1:13)12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. (Ex 6:2; Ex 11:4; Ex 12:23; Nu 33:4; Isa 43:11)13The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. (Heb 11:28)14“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. (Ex 12:17; Ex 12:24; Ex 12:43; Ex 13:9; Ex 13:10; 2Ki 23:21)15Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. (Ge 17:14; Ex 13:6; Ex 23:15; Ex 34:18; Ex 34:25; Le 23:6; Nu 9:13; Nu 28:17; De 16:3; De 16:8; 1Co 5:7)16On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. (Le 23:7; Nu 28:18; Nu 28:25)17And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. (Ex 7:4; Ex 12:51; Ex 13:3)18In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. (Le 23:5; Nu 28:16)19For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. (Ex 12:15; Ex 12:48)20You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”21Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. (Ex 12:3)22Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. (Ex 12:7; Le 14:6; Nu 19:18; Ps 51:7; Isa 26:20; Heb 9:19; Heb 11:28)23For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and 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 enter your houses to strike you. (Ex 12:12; Ex 12:22; Eze 9:6; Heb 11:28; Re 7:3; Re 9:4)24You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.25And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. (Ex 3:8; Ex 3:17)26And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ (Ex 13:8; Ex 13:14; De 6:20; De 32:7; Jos 4:6; Jos 4:21; Ps 78:3)27you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. (Ex 4:31; Ex 12:11; Ex 12:21)28Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn
29At midnight the Lord struck down 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 the livestock. (Ex 4:23; Ex 11:4; Ex 11:5; Nu 8:17; Nu 33:4; Ps 78:51; Ps 105:36; Ps 135:8; Ps 136:10)30And 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 someone was not dead. (Ex 11:6; Am 5:16)31Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. (Ex 10:9)32Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!” (Ex 10:24)
The Exodus
33The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” (Ex 6:1; Ex 11:1; Ex 11:8; Ps 105:38)34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.35The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. (Ex 3:22; Ex 11:2)36And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. (Ge 15:14; Ex 3:21; Ex 11:3; Ps 105:37)37And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. (Ge 47:11; Ex 1:11; Ex 38:26; Nu 1:46; Nu 2:32; Nu 11:21; Nu 26:51; Nu 33:3; Nu 33:5)38A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. (Le 24:10; Nu 11:4; Ne 13:3)39And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. (Ex 12:33; De 16:3)40The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years.41At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. (Ge 15:13; Ac 7:6; Ga 3:17)42It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. (De 16:1)
Institution of the Passover
43And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it,44but every slave[2] that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. (Ge 17:12)45No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. (Le 22:10)46It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. (Nu 9:12; Joh 19:36)47All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. (Ex 12:6)48If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. (Ex 12:19; Nu 9:14)49There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” (Ex 12:48; Nu 9:14; Nu 15:15)50All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.51And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. (Ex 12:17; Ex 12:41; Ac 13:17)