Exodus 12
1 Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me there in Egypt,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron while they were still in Egypt,
2 “[From now on], this month [will be] the first month of the year for you.
“This month will be for you the first month, the first month of your year.
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.
Tell all the Israelites that on the tenth day of this month, every man must choose a lamb for his family, one for each household.
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.
However, if the household is too small for a whole lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor may choose a lamb according to the total number of people. Divide up the lamb depending on what everybody can eat.
5 The lambs or goats that you choose must be males, one-year-old, and they must not have any defects.
Your lamb must be a year-old male without any defects, and you can take it either from the sheep or 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.
Keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the Israelites will slaughter the animals after sunset and before it gets dark.
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.
They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they have the meal.
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.
They are to roast the meat over a fire and eat it that night, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
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.
You are not to eat the meat raw or boiled in water. All of it must be roasted it over a fire, including the head, legs, and its insides.
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.
Make sure nothing is left until the morning. If there is anything left over, burn it by morning.
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.
This is how you are to eat the meal. You should be dressed ready to travel, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. You are to eat quickly—it is the Lord'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].
That very night I will go all through Egypt and kill every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring condemnation on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
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.
The blood on the houses where you live will mark them out. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. No deathly plague will fall on you to destroy you when I attack 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.
This will be a day to remember for you. You are to celebrate it as a festival to the Lord for generations to come. You will observe this for all time to come.
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.
For seven days you must eat only bread made without yeast. On the first day you are to get rid of the yeast from your houses. Anyone who eats anything with yeast from the first day to seventh day must be excluded from the Israelite community.
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.
On both the first day and on the seventh day you are to have a holy meeting. You must not work on those days, except to prepare food. That is all you are allowed to do.
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.
You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I led your tribes by their respective divisions out of Egypt. You are to observe this day for all time to come.
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 you are to eat bread without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.
For seven days there must be no yeast in your houses. If anyone eats something with yeast in it, then they must be excluded from the Israelite community, whether they are a foreigner or native of the land.
20 In your houses, do not eat anything that has yeast in it during those seven days.”
You must not eat anything with yeast in it. Eat only bread without yeast in all your homes.”
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’.
Then Moses called together all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go immediately and choose a lamb for each of your families, and kill the Passover lamb.
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.
Get a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and put some on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you are to go out through door of the house until 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].
When the Lord passes through to punish the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. He will pass over the door, and he will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and kill you.
24 You and your descendants must celebrate this festival forever.
You and your descendants are to remember to observe these instructions for all time to come.
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].
When you enter the land that the Lord promised to give you, you are to observe this ceremony.
26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean?’,
When your children come and ask you, ‘Why is this ceremony important to you?’
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].
you are to tell them, ‘This is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord. He was the one who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he killed the Egyptians but spared our households.’” The people bowed down in worship.
28 Then the Israeli people did what Yahweh had told Aaron and Moses/me [to tell them to do].
Then the Israelites went and did just as the Lord had told Moses and Aaron.
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.
At midnight the Lord killed every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the jail, and also all the firstborn of the livestock.
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.
Pharaoh got up during the night, as well as all his officials and all the Egyptians. There were loud cries of agony throughout Egypt, because there wasn't a single house where someone hadn't died.
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!
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron during the night and told them, “Get out of here! Leave my people, the two of you and the Israelites! Go, so you can worship the Lord as you have asked.
32 Take your flocks [of sheep and goats] and herds [of cattle], and leave! And ask Yahweh to bless me, also!”
Take your flocks and herds as well, just like you've said, and leave! Oh, and bless me too.”
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.
The Egyptians urged the Israelites to leave their country as quickly as possible, saying, “Otherwise we'll all die!”
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.
So the Israelites picked up their dough before it had risen, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing.
35 The Egyptians urged the [Israeli] people to leave their country quickly. They said, “[If you do not do that], we will all die!”
In addition, the Israelites did what Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for objects of silver and gold, and for 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].
The Lord had made the Egyptians look so favorably on the Israelites that they agreed their request. In this way they took the wealth of 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.
The Israelites set out on foot from Rameses for Succoth and numbered about 600,000 men, as well as women and 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].
In addition many foreigners joined them. They also took with them large herds and flocks of livestock.
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.
Since their bread dough didn't have any yeast, the Israelites baked what they had brought out of Egypt into loaves without yeast. This was because when they were driven out of Egypt they had to leave in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare food for themselves.
40 The Israeli people had lived in Egypt 430 years.
The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years.
41 On the day that those 430 years ended, on that very day, all the tribes of Yahweh’s people left Egypt.
On the very day the 430 years ended, all the tribes of the Lord by their respective divisions left 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.
Because the Lord kept watch that night to lead them out of the land of Egypt, you are to keep watch this same night as an observance to honor the Lord, to be kept by all Israelites for generations to come.
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.
The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “This is the Passover ceremony. No foreigner is allowed to eat it.
But any slave who has been bought can eat it once you have circumcised him.
45 Do not let people who are living among you temporarily, or servants whom you have hired, eat [the Passover meal].
Foreign visitors or those hired from other nations shall not eat the Passover.
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.
It has to be eaten inside the house. You are not allowed to take any of the meat outside the house, or to break any of the bones.
47 All the Israeli people must celebrate this festival.
All Israelites are to celebrate 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.
If there's a foreigner lives with you and wants to celebrate the Lord's Passover, all the males in their household have to be circumcised. Then he may come and celebrate it, and he shall be treated like a native of the land. But no man who is not circumcised may eat it.
49 These rules apply to people who were born as Israelis and to foreigners who come and live among you.”
The same rule applies to both the native and the foreigner who lives among you.”
50 All the Israeli people obeyed Aaron and Moses/me and did what Yahweh had commanded.
Then all the Israelites followed these instructions. They did exactly what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
51 On that very day Yahweh brought all the tribes of the Israeli people out of Egypt.
That very day the Lord led the Israelite tribes out of Egypt by their respective tribal divisions.
