Exodus 12

1Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying.

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

3Speak to the whole congregation of Israel, saying, "On the tenth of this month let them take for themselves each man a lamb for his father's house, a lamb for the house."

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

5Your lamb must be unblemished, male, one year old. Take it from the sheep or from the goats.

6You shall guard it until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.

7They shall take some of the blood and apply it to both doorposts and the lintel on the houses in which they eat it.

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

9Eat none of it raw, nor boiled in water, but roast it over fire—its head with its legs and its entrails.

10Do not leave any of it until morning, and burn with fire whatever remains of it until morning.

11Thus you shall eat it—with your loins girded, sandals on your feet, and staff in your hand—and eat it in haste; it is Yahweh's Passover.

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

13The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no destructive plague will befall you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14This day will be a memorial for you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh for your generations—an eternal ordinance; you shall celebrate it.

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

16On the first day there shall be a holy assembly for you, and on the seventh day a holy assembly; no work at all shall be done in them, except what everyone must eat—that alone may be done by you.

17You shall observe the unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out from the land of Egypt; therefore observe this day for your generations, an eternal statute.

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

19For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, because anyone who eats anything leavened—that person shall be cut off from Israel's assembly, whether a sojourner or native of the land.

20Do not eat any leaven in all your dwellings; eat unleavened bread.

21Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Draw out and take a lamb for your families, and slaughter the Passover."

22Take a bundle of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the bowl, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the bowl; none of you shall go out from the doorway of his house until morning.

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

24You shall keep this matter as a statute for you and your sons forever.

25When you come to the land that Yahweh will give you, as he has spoken, you will observe this service.

26When your sons say to you, "What does this service mean to you?"

27You shall say, "It is Yahweh's Passover sacrifice, who passed over the houses of Israel's children in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and rescued our houses." The people bowed their heads and worshiped.

28The sons of Israel went and did as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29It happened in the middle of the night that Yahweh struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon house, and all the firstborn livestock.

30Pharaoh arose during the night—he and all his servants and all the Egyptians—and there was a great cry in Egypt, because no house lacked a dead person in it.

31He called Moses and Aaron at night and said, "Get up, go out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; go, serve Yahweh, as you have said."

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

33The Egyptians pressed the people to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, "We are all dead."

34The people carried their dough before it leavened, their kneading troughs wrapped in their clothes on their shoulders.

35The Israelites followed Moses' instructions and requested silver vessels, gold vessels, and garments from the Egyptians.

36Yahweh gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they asked them and plundered the Egyptians.

37The sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, apart from children.

38Even a large mixed multitude went up with them, with flocks, herds, and very much livestock.

39They baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not linger, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

40The stay of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.

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

42It is a night of vigils for Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night for Yahweh, vigils for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

43Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the Passover statute: No son of a foreigner shall eat it."

44Every servant a man acquires for silver, when you circumcise him, then he shall eat it.

45A sojourner and a hireling shall not eat of it.

46It is to be eaten in one house; do not take any of the flesh outside from the house, nor break a bone in it.

47All the congregation of Israel shall do it.

48When a sojourner resides with you and offers the Passover to Yahweh, have every male in his household circumcised; then he may draw near to offer it, and he will be like a native of the land, but no uncircumcised person may eat any of it.

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

50All the children of Israel did as Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

51It happened on that very day that Yahweh brought the children of Israel out from the land of Egypt by their armies.