Exodus 12:21–51

²¹Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover^b lamb. ²²Take a bunch of hyssop,^c dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood^d on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. ²³When the Lord goes through the land to strike^e down the Egyptians, he will see the blood^f on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over^g that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer^h to enter your houses and strike you down.

²⁴“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinanceⁱ for you and your descendants. ²⁵When you enter the land^j that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶And when your children^k ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷then tell them, ‘It is the Passover^l sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ ”^m Then the people bowed down and worshiped.^{n 28}The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded^o Moses and Aaron.

²⁹At midnight^p the Lord^q struck down all the firstborn^r in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock^s as well. ³⁰Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing^t in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

The Exodus

³¹During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship^u the Lord as you have requested. ³²Take your flocks and herds,^v as you have said, and go. And also bless^w me.”

³³The Egyptians urged the people to hurry^x and leave^y the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”^{z 34}So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs^a wrapped in clothing. ³⁵The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold^b and for clothing.^{c 36}The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed^d toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered^e the Egyptians.

³⁷The Israelites journeyed from Rameses^f to Sukkoth.^g There were about six hundred thousand men^h on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸Many other peopleⁱ went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out^j of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

⁴⁰Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt^b was 430 years.^{k 41}At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions^l left Egypt.^{m 42}Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.ⁿ

Passover Restrictions

⁴³The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:^o

“No foreigner^p may eat it. ⁴⁴Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised^q him, ⁴⁵but a temporary resident or a hired worker^r may not eat it.

⁴⁶“It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.^{s 47}The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

⁴⁸“A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.^t No uncircumcised^u male may eat it. ⁴⁹The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner^v residing among you.”

⁵⁰All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded^w Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt^x by their divisions.^y