The Last Plague

1 Now the Lord said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; aafter that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely.

2 “Speak now in the 1hearing of the people that aeach man ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold.”

3 aThe Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. bFurthermore, the man Moses himself was 1greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

4 Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About amidnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt,

5 and aall the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well.

6 ‘Moreover, there shall be aa great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again.

7 ‘aBut against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even 1bark, whether against man or beast, that you may 2understand how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’

8 “aAll these your servants will come down to me and bow themselves 1before me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who 2follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” bAnd he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “aPharaoh will not listen to you, so bthat My wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

10 aMoses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet bthe Lord 1hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

Chapter 12

The Passover Lamb

1 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of 1Egypt,

2 “aThis month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.

3 “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a 1lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a 1lamb for 2each household.

4 ‘Now if the household is too small for a 1lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the 2number of persons in them; according to 3what each man should eat, you are to 4divide the lamb.

5 ‘Your 1lamb shall be aan unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

6 ‘1You shall keep it until the afourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it 2bat twilight.

7 ‘aMoreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel 1of the houses in which they eat it.

8 ‘They shall eat the flesh athat same night, broasted with fire, and they shall eat it with cunleavened bread 1dand bitter herbs.

9 ‘Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather aroasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with bits entrails.

10 ‘aAnd you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.

11 ‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is athe Lord’s Passover.

12 ‘For aI will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and bagainst all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—cI am the Lord.

13 ‘aThe blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you 1live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you 2to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Feast of Unleavened Bread

14 ‘Now athis day will be ba memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as 1ca permanent ordinance.

15 ‘aSeven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall 1remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, bthat 2person shall be cut off from Israel.

16 ‘aOn the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten 1by every person, that alone may be 2prepared by you.

17 ‘You shall also observe athe Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this bvery day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as ca 1permanent ordinance.

18 ‘aIn 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.

19 ‘aSeven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that 1bperson shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.

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

21 Then aMoses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “1Go and btake for yourselves 2lambs according to your families, and slay cthe Passover lamb.

22 “aYou shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and 1apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.

A Memorial of Redemption

23 “For athe Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will bnot allow the cdestroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.

24 “And ayou shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever.

25 “When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has 1promised, you shall observe this 2rite.

26 “aAnd when your children say to you, ‘1What does this rite mean to you?’

27 you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to athe Lord 1who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but 2spared our homes.’ ” bAnd the people bowed low and worshiped.

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

29 Now it came about at amidnight that bthe Lord struck all cthe 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 dungeon, and all the firstborn of dcattle.

30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was aa great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.