THE BOOK OF EXODUS

 

Exodus Chapter 12

1 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

2 This month will be to you the beginning of months: it will be the first month of the year to you.

3 Tell all the congregation of Israel, On the tenth day of this month each man will secure a lamb, suitable for the size of the family of which he is the father, one lamb for each household:

4 And if one family is too small to consume one lamb, that person and his next door neighbor are to select one suitable for the combined number of people; sharing expense for the lamb according to what each one can eat.

5 Your lamb must be without blemish, a male of the first year: you may take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

6 And you shall confine it until the fourteenth day of the same month: when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening.

7 And they will take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the lintel above the door space of the houses, in which they will eat it.

8 And they will eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire; they will eat it with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs.

9 Do not eat it raw, or boiled in water, but roasted on the fire; its head with its legs, and the inward parts.

10 And you shall let none of it remain until morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn with fire.

11 And you will eat it this way; with belts around your waist, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you 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 strike down 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 a sign for you upon the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague will not fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

14 And this day is to be a memorial for you; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance forever.

15 You will eat unleavened bread for seven days; on the first day you shall get rid of any yeast in 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.

16 And on the first day you shall hold a solemn assembly, and in the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every person must eat, that alone may be done by you.

17 And you will observe the feast of unleavened bread; for on this very day have I brought your multitudes out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever.

18 In the first month, from evening on the fourteenth day of the month, until the evening of the twenty-first, you shall eat unleavened bread.

19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses: for whoever eats that which is leavened, shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger, or one born in the land.

20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you will eat unleavened bread.

21 ¶ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Go out and select a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

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

23 For the LORD will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to slay you.

24 And you shall observe this rite as an ordinance for you and for your sons forever.

25 And it shall come to pass, when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, as he has promised, that you shall keep this service.

26 And when your children ask you, What is the meaning of this service?

27 You 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 slew the Egyptians, but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshipped.

28 And the children of Israel went, and did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

29 ¶ And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon; and the firstborn of all the livestock.

30 And Pharaoh got up during the night, he, along with all his officials, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a home where someone was not dead.

31 And he sent word to Moses and Aaron during the night, and said, Rise up, and get out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have requested.

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

33 And the Egyptians urged the people to leave the country quickly; saying, We will all be dead.

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

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

36 And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they gave them whatever they requested. And they plundered the Egyptians.

37 ¶ And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.

38 And a mixed multitude also went up with them; along with very many animals, both flocks, and herds.

39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they carried out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were driven out of Egypt, and could not take the time, nor had they prepared any food for themselves.

40 Now the time the children of Israel 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, on that very day, all the LORD’S people marched out of the land of Egypt.

42 It was a night when the LORD kept watch to bring them out of the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD that is to be observed by all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

43 ¶ And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, These are the rules for the Passover: No foreigner shall eat of it:

44 But every man’s slave who has been bought for money, may eat of it, after you have circumcised him.

45 A foreigner or hired servant shall not eat of it.

46 Eat it in one house; do not take any of the meat out of the house; or break any of its bones.

47 The entire nation of Israel shall observe it.

48 And when a foreigner who is staying with you, wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, then he may come to celebrate it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

49 A foreigner who lives among you is bound by the same law as anyone born in Israel.

50 That is what all the children of Israel did; they did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.

51 And on that same day the LORD had all the children of Israel march out of the land of Egypt like an army.