Exodus 12
12
The Passover
1 #
Lv 23.4,5; Nu 9.1-5; 28.16; Dt 16.1,2. Some time later the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
2This month#12.2 This month: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April. is to be the first month of the year for you. 3Tell the people of Israel that on the tenth day of this month the head of each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for his family to eat. 4-5If any family is too small to eat the whole animal, they must share it with their next-door neighbors. Choose either a sheep or a goat, but it must be a one-year-old male that has nothing wrong with it. And it must be large enough for everyone to have some of the meat.
6Each family must take care of its animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, when the animals are to be killed. 7Some of the blood must be put on the two doorposts and above the door of each house where the animals are to be eaten. 8That night the animals are to be roasted and eaten, together with bitter herbs and thin bread made without yeast. 9Don't eat the meat raw or boiled. The entire animal, including its head, legs, and insides, must be roasted. 10Eat what you want that night, and the next morning burn whatever is left. 11When you eat the meal, be dressed and ready to travel. Have your sandals on, carry your walking stick in your hand, and eat quickly. This is the Passover Festival in honor of me, your Lord.
12That same night I will pass through Egypt and kill the first-born son in every family and the first-born male of all animals. I am the Lord, and I will punish the gods of Egypt. 13The blood on the houses will show me where you live, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Then you won't be bothered by the terrible disasters I will bring on Egypt.
14 #
Ex 23.15; 34.18; Lv 23.6-8; Nu 28.17-25; Dt 16.3-8. Remember this day and celebrate it each year as a festival in my honor. 15For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. And on the first of these seven days, you must remove all yeast from your homes. If you eat anything made with yeast during this festival, you will no longer be part of Israel. 16Meet together for worship on the first and seventh days of the festival. The only work you are allowed to do on either of these two days is that of preparing the bread.
17Celebrate this Festival of Thin Bread as a way of remembering the day that I brought your families and tribes out of Egypt. And do this each year. 18Begin on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month by eating bread made without yeast. Then continue this celebration until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19During these seven days no yeast is allowed in anyone's home, whether they are native Israelites or not. If you are caught eating anything made with yeast, you will no longer be part of Israel. 20Stay away from yeast, no matter where you live. No one is allowed to eat anything made with yeast!
21Moses called the leaders of Israel together and said:
Each family is to pick out a sheep and kill it for Passover. 22Make a brush from a few small branches of a hyssop plant and dip the brush in the bowl that has the blood of the animal in it. Then brush some of the blood above the door and on the posts at each side of the door of your house. After this, everyone is to stay inside until morning.
23 #
He 11.28. During that night the Lord will go through the country of Egypt and kill the first-born son in every Egyptian family. He will see where you have put the blood, and he will not come into your house. His angel that brings death will pass over and not kill your first-born sons.
24-25After you have entered the country promised to you by the Lord, you and your children must continue to celebrate Passover each year. 26Your children will ask you, “What are we celebrating?” 27And you will answer, “The Passover animal is killed to honor the Lord. We do these things because on that night long ago the Lord passed over the homes of our people in Egypt. He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians, but he spared our children from death.”
After Moses finished speaking, the people of Israel knelt down and worshiped the Lord. 28Then they left and did what Moses and Aaron had told them to do.
Death for the First-Born Sons
29 #
Ex 4.22,23. At midnight the Lord killed the first-born son of every Egyptian family, from the son of the king#12.29 the king: See the note at 1.11. to the son of every prisoner in jail. He also killed the first-born male of every animal that belonged to the Egyptians.
30That night the king, his officials, and everyone else in Egypt got up and started crying bitterly. In every Egyptian home, someone was dead.
The People of Israel Escape from Egypt
31During the night the king#12.31 the king: See the note at 1.11. sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Get your people out of my country and leave us alone! Go and worship the Lord, as you have asked. 32Take your sheep, goats, and cattle, and get out. But ask your God to be kind to me.”
33The Egyptians did everything they could to get the Israelites to leave their country as quickly as possible. They said, “Please hurry and leave. If you don't, we will all be dead.” 34So the Israelites quickly made some bread dough and put it in pans. But they did not mix any yeast in the dough to make it rise. They wrapped cloth around the pans and carried them on their shoulders.
35 #
Ex 3.21,22. The Israelites had already done what Moses had told them to do. They had gone to their Egyptian neighbors and asked for gold and silver and for clothes. 36The Lord had made the Egyptians friendly toward the people of Israel, and they gave them whatever they asked for. In this way they carried away the wealth of the Egyptians when they left Egypt.
37The Israelites walked from the city of Rameses to the city of Succoth. There were about 600,000 of them, not counting women and children. 38Many other people went with them as well, and there were also a lot of sheep, goats, and cattle. 39They left Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have time to prepare any food except the bread dough made without yeast. So they baked it and made thin bread.
40-41 #
Gn 15.13-15; Ga 3.17. The Lord's people left Egypt exactly 430 years after they had arrived. 42On that night the Lord kept watch for them, and on this same night each year Israel will always keep watch in honor of the Lord.
Instructions for Passover
43The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following instructions for celebrating Passover:
Only Israelites may eat the Passover meal.
44Your slaves may eat the meal if they have been circumcised, 45but no foreigners who work for you are allowed to have any.
46 #
Nu 9.12; Jn 19.36. The entire meal must be eaten inside, and no one may leave the house during the celebration.
No bones of the Passover lamb may be broken. 47And all Israelites must take part in the meal.
48If anyone who isn't an Israelite wants to celebrate Passover with you, every man and boy in that family must first be circumcised. Then they may join in the meal, just like native Israelites. No uncircumcised man or boy may eat the Passover meal! 49This law applies both to native Israelites and to those foreigners who live among you.
50The Israelites obeyed everything the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron to tell them. 51And on that same day the Lord brought Israel's families and tribes out of Egypt.
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Exodus 12: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Exodus 12
12
Passover
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2“This month will be the very first month of the year for you. 3Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth ⌞day⌟ of this month each man must take a lamb or a young goat for his family—one animal per household. 4A household may be too small to eat a whole animal. That household and the one next door can share one animal. Choose your animal based on the number of people and what each person can eat. 5Your animal must be a one-year-old male that has no defects. You may choose a lamb or a young goat. 6Take care of it until the fourteenth ⌞day⌟ of this month.
“Then at dusk, all the assembled people from the community of Israel must slaughter their animals. 7They must take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they will eat the animals. 8The meat must be eaten that same night. It must be roasted over a fire and eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. 9Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled but roast the whole animal over a fire. 10Don’t leave any of it until morning. Anything left over in the morning must be burned up. 11This is how ⌞you should be dressed when⌟ you eat it: with your belt on, your sandals on your feet, and your shepherd’s staff in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry. It is the Lord’s Passover.
12“On that same night I will go throughout Egypt and kill every firstborn male, both human and animal. I will severely punish all the gods of Egypt, ⌞because⌟ I am the Lord. 13But the blood on your houses will be a sign for your protection. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing will touch or destroy you when I strike Egypt.
14“This day will be one for you to remember. This is a permanent law for generations to come: You will celebrate this day as a pilgrimage festival in the Lord’s honor. 15For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the very first day you must remove any yeast that you have in your houses. Whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh day must be excluded from Israel. 16You must have a holy assembly on the first day and another one on the seventh. You must not work on these days except to prepare your own meals. That’s all you may do.
17You must celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread because it was on this very day that I brought you out of Egypt in organized family groups. This is a permanent law for future generations: You must celebrate this day. 18From the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day you must eat unleavened bread. 19There should be no yeast in your houses for seven days. Whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be excluded from the community of Israel, whether he is an Israelite or not. 20Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat ⌞only⌟ unleavened bread.”
21Then Moses called for all the leaders of Israel. He said to them, “Pick out a lamb or a young goat for your families, and kill the Passover animal. 22Take the branch of a hyssop plant, dip it in the blood which is in a bowl, and put some of the blood on the top and sides of the doorframes ⌞of your houses⌟. No one may leave the house until morning. 23The Lord will go throughout Egypt to kill the Egyptians. When he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, he will pass over that doorway, and he will not let the destroyer come into your home to kill you.
24“You must follow these instructions. They are a permanent law for you and your children. 25When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26When your children ask you what this ceremony means to you, 27you must answer, ‘It’s the Passover sacrifice in the Lord’s honor. The Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he killed the Egyptians.’ ”
Then the people knelt, bowing with their faces touching the ground. 28The Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
29At midnight the Lord killed every firstborn male in Egypt from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who ruled the land to the firstborn son of the prisoner in jail, and also every firstborn animal. 30Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the ⌞other⌟ Egyptians got up during the night. There was loud crying throughout Egypt because in every house someone had died.
Pharaoh Allows the Israelites to Leave Egypt
31Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron during the night. He said, “You and the Israelites must leave my people at once. Go, worship the Lord as you asked. 32Take your flocks and herds, too, as you asked. Just go! And bless me, too!”
33The Egyptians begged the people to leave the country quickly. They said, “Soon we’ll all be dead!” 34So the people picked up their bread dough before it had risen and carried it on their shoulders in bowls, wrapped up in their clothes.
35The Israelites did what Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for gold and silver jewelry and for clothes. 36The Lord made the Egyptians generous to the people, and they gave them what they asked for. So the Israelites stripped Egypt of its wealth.
The Israelites Leave Egypt
37The Israelites left Rameses to go to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, plus all the women and children. 38Many other people also went with them, along with large numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle.
39With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked round, flat bread. The dough hadn’t risen because they’d been thrown out of Egypt and had no time to prepare food for the trip.
40The Israelites had been living in Egypt for 430 years. 41After exactly 430 years all the Lord’s people left Egypt in organized family groups. 42That night the Lord kept watch to take them out of Egypt. (All Israelites in future generations must keep watch on this night, since it is dedicated to the Lord.)
Rules for the Passover
43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the rules for the Passover:
“No foreigner may eat the Passover meal.
44“Any male slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him.
45“No foreigner visiting you may eat it.
“No hired worker may eat it.
46“The meal must be eaten inside one house. Never take any of the meat outside the house.
“Never break any of the bones.
47“The whole community of Israel must celebrate the Passover.
48“Foreigners may want to celebrate the Lord’s Passover. First, every male in the household must be circumcised. Then they may celebrate the Passover like native-born Israelites. But no uncircumcised males may ever eat the Passover meal. 49The same instructions apply to native-born Israelites as well as foreigners.”
50All the Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51That very day the Lord brought all the Israelites out of Egypt in organized family groups.
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