Exodus 12:1–24

The Passover Lamb

¹Now 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 lamb 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.’ ”

²¹Then ^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.