Exodus 12
12
The First Passover Sacrifice
1The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Egypt. 2He said, “From now on, this month will be your first month. Each of your years will begin with it. 3Speak to the whole community of Israel. Tell them that on the tenth day of this month each man must get a lamb from his flock. A lamb should be chosen for each family and home. 4Suppose there are not enough people in your family to eat a whole lamb. Then you must share some of it with your nearest neighbor. You must add up the total number of people there are. You must decide how much lamb is needed for each person. 5The animals you choose must be males that are a year old. They must not have any flaws. You may choose either sheep or goats. 6Take care of them until the 14th day of the month. Then the whole community of Israel must kill them when the sun goes down. 7Take some of the blood. Put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where you eat the lambs. 8That same night eat the meat cooked over a fire. Also eat bitter plants. And eat bread made without yeast. 9Do not eat the meat when it is raw. Don’t boil it in water. Instead, cook it over a fire. Cook the head, legs and inside parts. 10Do not leave any of it until morning. If some is left over until morning, burn it up. 11Eat the meat while your coat is tucked into your belt. Put your sandals on your feet. Take your walking stick in your hand. Eat the food quickly. It is the Lord’s Passover.
12“That same night I will pass through Egypt. I will strike down all those born first among the people and animals. And I will judge all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13The blood on your houses 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 Egypt.
14“Always remember this day. You and your children after you must celebrate this day as a feast to honor the Lord. You must do this for all time to come. It is a law that will last forever. 15For seven days eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your homes. For the next seven days, anyone who eats anything with yeast in it must be separated from Israel. 16On the first and seventh days, come together for a sacred assembly. Do not work at all on these days. The only thing you are allowed to do is prepare food for everyone to eat.
17“Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I brought you out of Egypt on this very day like an army on the march. It is a law that will last for all time to come. 18In the first month eat bread made without yeast. Eat it from the evening of the 14th day until the evening of the 21st day. 19For seven days do not let any yeast be found in your homes. Anyone who eats anything with yeast in it must be separated from the community of Israel. That applies to outsiders and Israelites alike. 20Do not eat anything made with yeast. No matter where you live, eat bread made without yeast.”
21Then Moses sent for all the elders of Israel. He said to them, “Go at once. Choose the animals for your families. Each family must kill a Passover lamb. 22Get a branch of a hyssop plant. Dip it into the blood in the bowl. Put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you can go out of the door of your house until morning. 23The Lord will go through the land to strike down the Egyptians. He’ll see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. He will pass over that house. He won’t let the destroying angel enter your homes to strike you down.
24“Obey all these directions. It’s a law for you and your children after you for all time to come. 25The Lord will give you the land, just as he promised. When you enter it, keep this holy day. 26Your children will ask you, ‘What does this holy day mean to you?’ 27Tell them, ‘It’s the Passover sacrifice to honor the Lord. He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. He spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ ” Then the Israelites bowed down and worshiped. 28They did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.
29At midnight the Lord struck down every oldest son in Egypt. He killed the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne. He killed all the oldest sons of prisoners. He also killed all the male animals born first to their mothers among the livestock. 30Pharaoh and all his officials got up during the night. So did all the Egyptians. There was loud crying in Egypt because someone had died in every home.
The Exodus
31During the night, Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “Get out of here! You and the Israelites, leave my people! Go. Worship the Lord, just as you have asked. 32Go. Take your flocks and herds, just as you have said. And also give me your blessing.”
33The Egyptians begged the people of Israel to hurry up and leave the country. “If you don’t,” they said, “we’ll all die!” 34So the people took their dough before the yeast was added to it. They carried it on their shoulders in bowls for kneading bread. The bowls were wrapped in clothes. 35They did just as Moses had directed them. They asked the Egyptians for things made out of silver and gold. They also asked them for clothes. 36The Lord had caused the Egyptians to treat the Israelites in a kind way. So the Egyptians gave them what they asked for. The Israelites took many expensive things that belonged to the Egyptians.
37The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men old enough to go into battle. The women and children went with them. 38So did many other people. The Israelites also took large flocks and herds with them. 39The Israelites brought dough from Egypt. With it they baked loaves of bread without yeast. The dough didn’t have any yeast in it. That’s because the people had been driven out of Egypt before they had time to prepare their food.
40The Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years. 41Then all the Lord’s people marched out of Egypt like an army. That happened at the end of the 430 years, to the exact day. 42The Lord kept watch that night to bring them out of Egypt. So on that same night every year all the Israelites must keep watch. They must do it to honor the Lord for all time to come.
Rules for the Passover
43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Here are the rules for the Passover meal.
“No one from another country is allowed to eat it. 44Any slave you have bought is allowed to eat it after you have circumcised him. 45But a hired worker or someone who lives with you for a short time is not allowed to eat it.
46“It must be eaten inside the house. Do not take any of the meat outside. Do not break any of the bones. 47The whole community of Israel must celebrate the Passover.
48“Suppose an outsider living among you wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover. Then all the males in that home must be circumcised. After that, the person can take part, just like an Israelite. Only circumcised males may eat it. 49The same law applies to Israelites and to outsiders living among you.”
50All the people of Israel did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51On that day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt like an army on the march.
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Exodus 12: NIrV
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Exodus 12
12
The Passover Ritual Prescribed.#This section, which interrupts the narrative of the exodus, contains later legislation concerning the celebration of Passover. 1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2#As if to affirm victory over Pharaoh and sovereignty over the Israelites, the Lord proclaims a new calendar for Israel. This month: Abib, the month of “ripe grain.” Cf. 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; Dt 16:1. It occurred near the vernal equinox, March–April. Later it was known by the Babylonian name of Nisan. Cf. Neh 2:1; Est 3:7. This month will stand at the head of your calendar; you will reckon it the first month of the year.#Lv 23:5–8; Nm 9:2–5; 28:16–25; Dt 16:1–8. 3Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every family must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. 4If a household is too small for a lamb, it along with its nearest neighbor will procure one, and apportion the lamb’s cost#The lamb’s cost: some render the Hebrew, “reckon for the lamb the number of persons required to eat it.” Cf. v. 10. in proportion to the number of persons, according to what each household consumes. 5Your lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6You will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole community of Israel assembled, it will be slaughtered during the evening twilight. 7They will take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8They will consume its meat that same night, eating it roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9Do not eat any of it raw or even boiled in water, but roasted, with its head and shanks and inner organs. 10You must not keep any of it beyond the morning; whatever is left over in the morning must be burned up.
11This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you will eat it in a hurry. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn in the land, human being and beast alike, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the Lord!#Nm 33:4. 13But for you the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thereby, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.#Heb 11:28.
14This day will be a day of remembrance for you, which your future generations will celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord; you will celebrate it as a statute forever. 15For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. From the very first day you will have your houses clear of all leaven. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh will be cut off#Cut off: a common Priestly term, not easily reduced to a simple English equivalent, since its usage appears to involve a number of associated punishments, some or all of which may come into play in any instance of the term’s use. These included the excommunication of the offender from the Israelite community, the premature death of the offender, the eventual eradication of the offender’s posterity, and finally the loss by the offender of all ancestral holdings. from Israel. 16On the first day you will hold a sacred assembly, and likewise on the seventh. On these days no sort of work shall be done, except to prepare the food that everyone needs. 17Keep, then, the custom of the unleavened bread,#Ex 13:3. since it was on this very day that I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day throughout your generations as a statute forever. 18From the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of this month you will eat unleavened bread. 19For seven days no leaven may be found in your houses; for anyone, a resident alien or a native, who eats leavened food will be cut off from the community of Israel. 20You shall eat nothing leavened; wherever you dwell you may eat only unleavened bread.
Promulgation of the Passover. 21Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and procure lambs for your families, and slaughter the Passover victims. 22#Ex 12:7, 13. Then take a bunch of hyssop,#Hyssop: a plant with many small woody branches that was convenient for a sprinkling rite. and dipping it in the blood that is in the basin, apply some of this blood to the lintel and the two doorposts. And none of you shall go outdoors until morning. 23For when the Lord goes by to strike down the Egyptians, seeing the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and not let the destroyer come into your houses to strike you down.
24“You will keep this practice forever as a statute for yourselves and your descendants. 25Thus, when you have entered the land which the Lord will give you as he promised, you must observe this rite. 26#Ex 13:8, 14–15; Dt 6:20–25. When your children ask you, ‘What does this rite of yours mean?’ 27you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice for the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt; when he struck down the Egyptians, he delivered our houses.’”
Then the people knelt and bowed down, 28and the Israelites went and did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
Death of the Firstborn. 29#Ex 11:4–6; Nm 33:4; Ps 78:51; 105:36; 136:10; Wis 18:10–16. And so at midnight the Lord struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn of the animals. 30Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians; and there was loud wailing throughout Egypt, for there was not a house without its dead.
Permission to Depart. 31During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Leave my people at once, you and the Israelites! Go and serve the Lord as you said. 32Take your flocks, too, and your herds, as you said, and go; and bless me, too!”#Bless me, too: in a final and humiliating admission of defeat, once again Pharaoh asks Moses to intercede for him (cf. 8:24). However, Pharaoh may be speaking sarcastically.
33The Egyptians, in a hurry to send them away from the land, urged the people on, for they said, “All of us will die!” 34The people, therefore, took their dough before it was leavened, in their kneading bowls wrapped in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35#Ex 3:21–22; 11:2–3; Ps 105:37–38. And the Israelites did as Moses had commanded: they asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36Indeed the Lord had made the Egyptians so well-disposed toward the people that they let them have whatever they asked for. And so they despoiled the Egyptians.
Departure from Egypt. 37The Israelites set out from Rameses#Nm 33:3–5. for Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting the children. 38A crowd of mixed ancestry#Mixed ancestry: not simply descendants of Jacob; cf. Nm 11:4; Lv 24:10–11. also went up with them, with livestock in great abundance, both flocks and herds. 39The dough they had brought out of Egypt they baked into unleavened loaves. It was not leavened, because they had been driven out of Egypt and could not wait. They did not even prepare food for the journey.
40The time the Israelites had stayed in Egypt#In Egypt: according to the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch “in Canaan and Egypt,” thus reckoning from the time of Abraham. Cf. Gal 3:17. was four hundred and thirty years.#Gn 15:13; Acts 7:6; Gal 3:17. 41At the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this very date, all the armies of the Lord left the land of Egypt. 42This was a night of vigil for the Lord, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt; so on this night all Israelites must keep a vigil for the Lord throughout their generations.
Law of the Passover. 43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the Passover statute. No foreigner may eat of it. 44However, every slave bought for money you will circumcise; then he may eat of it. 45But no tenant or hired worker may eat of it. 46It must be eaten in one house; you may not take any of its meat outside the house.#Nm 9:12; Jn 19:36. You shall not break any of its bones.#You shall not break any of its bones: the application of these words to Jesus on the cross (Jn 19:36) sees the Paschal lamb as a prophetic type of Christ, sacrificed to free men and women from the bondage of sin. Cf. also 1 Cor 5:7; 1 Pt 1:19. 47The whole community of Israel must celebrate this feast. 48If any alien#Nm 9:14. residing among you would celebrate the Passover for the Lord, all his males must be circumcised, and then he may join in its celebration just like the natives. But no one who is uncircumcised may eat of it. 49There will be one law#One law: the first appearance of the word torah, traditionally translated as “law,” though it can have the broader meaning of “teaching” or “instruction.” Elsewhere, too, it is said that the “alien” is to be accorded the same treatment as the Israelite (e.g., Lv 19:34). for the native and for the alien residing among you.
50All the Israelites did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51On that same day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt company by company.
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