Exodus

While they were still in Egypt, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

"From now on, this month will be the [1] (beginning of months) for you."

"Tell the entire community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every family is to choose a lamb, one for each household."

"If a family is too small to eat a whole lamb, they should share one with their nearest neighbour, based on how much each person can eat."

"The lamb you choose must be a one-year-old male with no physical defects. You can take it from either the sheep or the goats."

"Keep the lamb until the fourteenth day of the month. Then the whole community of Israel must kill their animals at twilight."

"They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and the top of the doorframe of the house where they eat the animal."

"That same night, they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast."

"Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water. It must be roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and internal organs intact."

"Do not leave any of it until morning. If any meat is left over when morning comes, you must burn it."

"This is how you should eat it: be fully dressed, with your sandals on your feet and your walking staff in your hand. Eat it quickly, for it is [2] (the LORD's Passover)."

"On that same night, I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and every firstborn male animal. I will carry out my judgement against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD."

"The blood on your doorframes will be a sign for you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. No deadly plague will touch you when I strike the land of Egypt."

"You must always remember this day. Celebrate it as a special festival to the LORD for all generations to come. This is a permanent law."

"For seven days, you must eat bread made without yeast. On the very first day, make sure there is no yeast in your houses. Anyone who eats anything with yeast during those seven days must be removed from the community of Israel."

"Hold a sacred assembly on the first day and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except for preparing the food that everyone needs to eat."

"Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread [3], because it was on this very day that I brought your whole community out of Egypt. Observe this day as a permanent law for all your descendants."

"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, no yeast is to be found in your houses. Anyone, whether a foreigner or a native-born Israelite, who eats something with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel."

"Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat only unleavened bread."

Then Moses called all the leaders of Israel together and told them, "Go and select a lamb for your families and kill it for the Passover."

"Take a bunch of hyssop branches, dip them in the blood in the bowl, and brush the top and sides of the doorframe with the blood. None of you must go out of your house until morning."

"When the LORD passes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. He will pass over that door and will not allow [4] (the destroyer) to enter your house and strike you."

"Follow these instructions as a permanent law for you and your children."

"When you enter the land that the LORD has promised to give you, you must continue to perform this ceremony."

"And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean?'"

"Tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. He struck the Egyptians but spared our homes.'" When Moses finished speaking, the people bowed down and worshipped.

The Israelites went and did exactly what the LORD had commanded through Moses and Aaron.

At midnight, the LORD struck down every firstborn son in Egypt, from the son of Pharaoh on his throne to the son of the prisoner in the dungeon. He also struck the firstborn of all the livestock.

Pharaoh, all his officials, and every person in Egypt woke up during the night. A loud cry of grief rose up throughout the land, because there was not a single house without someone dead.

During the night, Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and shouted, "Get up! Leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go and worship the LORD as you have asked!"

"Take your flocks and herds, just as you said, and be gone! And ask for a blessing for me as well."

The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country, saying, "If you don't leave, we will all be dead!"

So the people took their dough before yeast had been added. They carried their kneading bowls on their shoulders, wrapped in their cloaks.

The Israelites did as Moses had told them: they asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for fine clothes.

the LORD made the Egyptians look upon them with favour, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. In this way, they took the wealth of the Egyptians with them.

The Israelites travelled from Rameses toward Succoth. There were about 600,000 men on foot, besides all the women and children.

A large number of other people went with them, along with massive flocks and herds of livestock.

Because they had been driven out of Egypt so quickly and hadn't had time to prepare food, they baked the dough they had brought with them into flat cakes without yeast.

The Israelites had lived in Egypt for exactly 430 years.

On the very last day of those 430 years, all the LORD's people left Egypt in organised groups.

Because the LORD spent that night watching over them to bring them out of Egypt, this night belongs to the LORD. It is to be observed by all Israelites for all generations to come.

the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the rules for the Passover: No foreigner is allowed to eat the Passover meal."

"But any slave who has been bought and circumcised may eat it."

"Temporary residents and hired workers are not allowed to eat it."

"Each Passover lamb must be eaten inside one house. Do not take any of the meat outside, and do not break any of its bones."

"The whole community of Israel must celebrate the Passover."

"If a foreigner living among you wants to celebrate [5] (the LORD's Passover), all the males in his household must be circumcised. Only then can he join in and be treated like a native-born Israelite. No uncircumcised person may eat the Passover meal."

"The same law applies to both the native-born Israelite and the foreigner living among you."

All the Israelites did exactly what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

And on that very day, the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.