Exodus 12:1–14

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PASSOVER

12The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ²“This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year.^{d 3}Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family. ⁴If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat. ⁵You must have an unblemished^e animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. ⁶You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.^{f 7}They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. ⁸They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.^{g 9}Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling^A water, but only roasted^h over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. ¹⁰You must not leave any of it until morning;ⁱ any part of it left until morning you must burn. ¹¹Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel,^B your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.^j

¹²“I will pass through^k the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.^{l 13}The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴“This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.^m