Exodus 12

₁The Lord talked to Moses and Aaron in Egypt. He said to them: ₂‘This month must be the most important month for you. From now on it must be the first month of the year. ₃Tell all the Israelites: On the 10th day of this month the leader of every family must take a lamb to sacrifice, one lamb for each family. ₄If his family is too small to eat a whole sheep or goat, he must ask his neighbours to eat with them. You must count how many people there are in each family because there must be enough meat for everyone to eat. ₅The lamb must be healthy. There must be nothing wrong with it and it must be a ram which is one-year-old. You may take a sheep or a goat. ₆You must keep it until the 14th day of the month and then you must kill it that evening. All the people of Israel must do this: ₇You must take some of the blood of this lamb and you must put it on the door frame. You must do this in every house where you eat the lamb. ₈You must roast the meat that evening and eat it, with bitter herbs and flat bread. ₉Do not eat the meat raw and do not cook or boil it in water. You must roast it over the fire, with the head of the lamb and its feet and inner parts. ₁₀You must eat all of the meat that night before the morning. If there is any of the meat left over in the morning, you must burn it in the fire. ₁₁This is how you must eat this meal: You must be prepared so that you can go away immediately. Put on your clothes before the time and put on your sandals and take your staff in your hand. Then you must eat very quickly. It is the Lord's Passover.

₁₂I will go through Egypt tonight and I will kill every firstborn son, the firstborn son of every family and every firstborn male animal. I will punish all the gods of Egypt and show them that I am the Lord. ₁₃The blood on the door frames will be a sign to show the houses where you live. When I see the blood, I will pass your houses and nothing bad will happen to you when I punish the Egyptians. ₁₄This is a day that you must always remember. Every year you and your descendants must celebrate this feast to honour Me.’

₁₅The Lord said: ‘You must eat bread with no yeast in it for 7 days. Eat only flat bread. On the first day you must take away all the yeast in your homes. If anyone eats bread with yeast in it for those 7 days, then you must cut him off from my people. ₁₆The first and the 7th day must be holy days for you. On these days no one may work. The only work that you may do is to prepare the food that you have to eat on that day.

₁₇You must celebrate the Feast of the flat bread because it was on this day that I saved you out of Egypt. You and your descendants must celebrate this feast every year. ₁₈From the evening of the 14th day of the first month to the evening of the 21st day, you may not eat any bread with yeast in it. ₁₉For 7 days there may be no yeast in your homes. If anyone eats bread with yeast in it, you must cut him off from my people. Cut him off whether he is an Israelite or a stranger. ₂₀You may not eat bread with yeast in it. You may eat only flat bread in all your homes.’

₂₁Then Moses called all the leaders_of_Israel and he said to them: ‘Each family must go immediately and catch a sheep or goat and he must kill it. It must be their Passover lamb. ₂₂Then you must take a hyssop-branch, put it into the blood of the lamb and then put the blood on the door frames of your homes. No one may go out of his house until the next morning. ₂₃When the Lord goes past you to kill the Egyptians, He will see the blood on your door frames and He will pass your houses. He will not let the angel_of_death go into your homes to kill you. ₂₄You and your descendants must always listen to the Lord and celebrate this feast. ₂₅And when you come into the land that the Lord has promised to give to you, then you must always celebrate this feast. ₂₆When your children ask you: “What does this feast mean?” ₂₇you must tell them: “This is the Passover offering to the Lord, because He passed the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. He killed the Egyptians but He did not kill us.” ’

Then the Israelites knelt down and worshipped the Lord. ₂₈They went and did everything that the Lord had told Moses and Aaron to do.

₂₉In the middle of the night the Lord killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh to the oldest sons of the men in jail, and all the firstborn male animals also died. ₃₀That night, the king and his officials and all the other Egyptians got up in the night. They all cried a lot because in all their homes someone had died. There was not one home where there was not a dead son.

₃₁That night Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and he told them: ‘Go away. Go away from my people, you and all the Israelites. Leave my land. Go and worship the Lord, as you asked. ₃₂Take your sheep and goats and your cattle, as you asked. That will be better for me.’

₃₃The Egyptians asked the people to go immediately and leave their land. They said: ‘We will all die if you don't go away.’

₃₄The Israelites took their bread dough with them. There was no yeast in the dough. They put their bowls of dough in their clothes and they put them on their shoulders. ₃₅The Israelites did what Moses told them. They asked the Egyptians for silver and gold and clothes. ₃₆The Lord made the Egyptians friendly to the Israelites. The Egyptians gave the Israelites everything they asked. That is how the Israelites took away all the valuable things of the Egyptians.

₃₇That night the Israelites walked from the town of Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about 600 000 men and there were also women and children. ₃₈Many other people who were not Israelites went with them. The Israelites had a lot of sheep, goats and cattle with them. ₃₉They baked flat bread from the dough that they had brought from Egypt. There was no yeast in the dough because the Egyptians chased them away out of Egypt and they had no time to prepare food for the road.

₄₀The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. ₄₁On the same day when the 430 years had passed, the Lord took his people out of Egypt. ₄₂That night was important to the Lord when He brought his people out of Egypt, and that night is consecrated to Him. That is why the Israelites and their descendants must not sleep but always stay awake on that night and they must worship the Lord.

₄₃The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ‘This is how you must celebrate the Passover: Only Israelites may eat the Passover food. No stranger may eat it. ₄₄But every slave that you have bought may also eat it if he is circumcised. ₄₅People who are not Israelites, and who work for you or live with you, may not eat the Passover food. ₄₆You must eat the Passover meal in the house where you prepare the food. You may not take the food outside. You must not break any of the bones of the animal. ₄₇All of the Israelites must celebrate the Passover.

₄₈If there is a stranger living with you who wants to celebrate the Lord's Passover, then you must first circumcise him with all his sons and the men in his family. Then he may eat the Passover with you like any person who is an Israelite. But any man who is not circumcised may not eat the Passover meal. ₄₉You must use the same law for Israelites and for strangers.’

₅₀All the Israelites did what the Lord told Moses and Aaron. ₅₁They still celebrate the Passover on the same day that the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt when He saved them.