Exodus 12

1The LORD said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

2This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.

3Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month each man shall take for himself a lamb according to his fathers’ house, a lamb for the household.’

4And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take one according to the number of persons; each man according to what he can eat, you shall count for the lamb.

5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats.

6And it shall be kept by you until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it between the evenings.

7And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

8They shall eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.

9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but only roasted over the fire, with its head, its legs, and its inner parts.

10You shall not leave any of it until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.

11And this is how you shall eat it: with your waist belted, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste; it is the Passover of Yahweh.

12For I will pass through the land of Egypt on this night, and I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am Yahweh.

13And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be among you to destroy, when I strike the land of Egypt.

14And this day shall be for you as a memorial, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations, you shall celebrate it as a permanent statute.

15For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. But on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats anything leavened, that person shall be cut off from Israel, from the first day to the seventh day.

16On the first day there shall be a holy assembly for you, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on them, except what every person must eat—that alone may be prepared for you.

17And you shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your hosts out from the land of Egypt. And you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

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

19For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses, for whoever eats anything leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether a sojourner or a native of the land.

20You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

21Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Draw out and take for yourselves sheep according to your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb.”

22And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out from the entrance of his house until morning.

23For Yahweh will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike.

24And you shall keep this thing as a statute for you and for your sons forever.

25And when you come into the land that Yahweh will give you, just as he promised, you shall keep this service.

26And when your sons say to you, ‘What is this service to you?’

27you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to Yahweh, who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when he struck Egypt and delivered our houses.’ And the people bowed down and worshiped.

28Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29And at midnight Yahweh struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison pit, and every firstborn of the livestock.

30And Pharaoh rose in the night, he and all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house where there was not someone dead.

31Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Rise up, go out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel, and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said.”

32Take both your flocks and your herds, just as you have said, and go—and bless me also.

33And the Egyptians urged the people on, hurrying to send them out of the land, for they said, “We are all dead men.”

34So the people carried their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.

35And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and articles of gold and clothing.

36And Yahweh gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked; and they plundered Egypt.

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

38A mixed multitude also went up with them, and flocks and herds—a very great amount of livestock.

39They baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, since it had not become leavened: they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay, and had not prepared provisions for themselves.

40The dwelling of the sons of Israel, who lived in Egypt, was four hundred thirty years.

41And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt.

42It was a night of vigil for Yahweh, to bring them out from the land of Egypt; this same night is a vigil for Yahweh for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

43And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner may eat of it.”

44But every man's servant, bought with silver—when you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.

45A sojourner or a hired worker shall not eat of it.

46It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the meat outside the house, and you shall not break a bone of it.

47All the congregation of Israel shall do it.

48If a sojourner resides with you and keeps the Passover to Yahweh, every male belonging to him must be circumcised; then he may come near to keep it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.

49One law shall be for the native and for the sojourner who sojourns among you.

50And all the sons of Israel did as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did.

51And on that very day, Yahweh brought the sons of Israel out from the land of Egypt according to their divisions.