Exodus 12
Christian Standard Bible
Instructions for the Passover
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year.(A) 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family. 4 If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat. 5 You must have an unblemished(B) animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.(C) 7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. 8 They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.(D) 9 Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling[a] water, but only roasted(E) over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. 10 You must not leave any of it until morning;(F) any part of it left until morning you must burn. 11 Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel,[b] your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.(G)
12 “I will pass through(H) the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.(I) 13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.(J) 15 You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast(K) from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off(L) from Israel. 16 You are to hold a sacred assembly(M) on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat—you may do only that.
17 “You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought your military divisions out of the land of Egypt.(N) You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute. 18 You are to eat unleavened bread in the first month,(O) from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a resident alien or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20 Do not eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.”[c]
21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.(P) 22 Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood(Q) that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, he will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.(R)
24 “Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, you are to observe this ceremony. 26 When your children(S) ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice(T) to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, and he spared our homes.’” So the people knelt low and worshiped. 28 Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
The Exodus
29 Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male 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, and every firstborn of the livestock.(U) 30 During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing(V) throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead. 31 He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Get out immediately from among my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship the Lord as you have said. 32 Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.”
33 Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, “We’re all going to die!” (W) 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.
35 The Israelites acted on Moses’s word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold items and for clothing.(X) 36 And the Lord gave the people such favor with the Egyptians that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.
37 The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth,(Y) about six hundred thousand(Z) able-bodied men on foot, besides their families. 38 A mixed crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 The people baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves, since it had no yeast; for when they were driven(AA) out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared provisions for themselves.
40 The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt[d] was 430 years.(AB) 41 At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the Lord’s military divisions went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because he would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.(AC)
Passover Instruction
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner may eat it. 44 But any slave a man has purchased may eat it, after you have circumcised him. 45 A temporary resident or hired worker may not eat the Passover.(AD) 46 It is to be eaten in one house. You may not take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of its bones.(AE) 47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate[e] it. 48 If an alien resides among you and wants to observe the Lord’s Passover, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may participate;[f] he will become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it. 49 The same law will apply to both the native and the alien who resides among you.”(AF)
50 Then all the Israelites did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 On that same day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions.(AG)
Exodus 12
Expanded Bible
The First Passover
12 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 “This month will be the beginning of months, the first month [C in terms of both the calendar and its importance] of the year for you. 3 Tell the whole ·community [congregation; assembly] of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb for [L each family, a lamb for] ·the people in his house [L each household]. 4 If there are not enough people in his house to eat a whole lamb, he must share it with his closest neighbor, considering the number of people. There must be enough lamb for everyone to eat. 5 The lamb must be a one-year-old male that has ·nothing wrong with it [no blemish]. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. 6 Take care of the animals until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day all the ·people of the community [assembly of the congregation] of Israel will ·kill [slaughter] them ·in the evening before dark [at twilight]. 7 The people must take some of the blood and put it on the ·sides and tops of the doorframes [doorposts and lintels] of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 On this night they must roast the lamb over a fire. They must eat it with bitter herbs and ·bread made without yeast [unleavened bread]. 9 Do not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole lamb over a fire—with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You must not leave any of it until morning, but if any of it is left over until morning, you must burn it with fire.
11 “This is the way you must eat it: ·You must be fully dressed as if you were going on a trip [L With your loins girded]. You must have your sandals on [L your feet] and your walking stick in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry; this is the Lord’s Passover.
12 “That night I will ·go [cross; pass] through the land of Egypt and ·kill [L strike] all the firstborn animals and [L firstborn] people in the land of Egypt. I will also ·punish [judge; have victory over] all the gods of Egypt [C the spiritual forces (demons) who spiritually empower Egypt]. I am the Lord. 13 But the blood will be a sign on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you [C the verb is related to the Hebrew word for Passover]. ·Nothing terrible will hurt [L No plague will destroy] you when I ·punish [L strike] the land of Egypt.
14 “You are always to remember this day and celebrate it with a feast to the Lord. ·Your descendants are to honor the Lord with this feast from now on [L You are to observe it throughout your generations as a perpetual statute/ordinance/requirement]. 15 For this feast you must eat ·bread made without yeast [unleavened bread] for seven days. On the first day, you are to remove all the ·yeast [leaven] from your houses. No one should eat ·any yeast [anything leavened] from the first day until the seventh day, or that person will be cut off from Israel. 16 You are to have ·holy meetings [sacred/solemn convocation] on the first and last days of the feast. You must not do any work on these days; the only work you may do is to prepare your meals. 17 You must ·celebrate [L keep; guard] the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your ·divisions of people [hosts; C a military designation] out of Egypt. So all of your descendants must celebrate this day. This is a ·law that will last from now on [L perpetual statute/ordinance/requirement throughout your generations]. 18 In the first month of the year you are to eat ·bread made without yeast [unleavened bread], from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day [C to commemorate their rapid departure; 12:39]. 19 For seven days there must not be any ·yeast [leaven] in your houses. Anybody who eats ·yeast [something leavened] during this time, either an ·Israelite [L native citizen in the land] or ·non-Israelite [L alien; sojourner], must be cut off from the ·community [congregation; assembly] of Israel. 20 During this feast you must not eat anything ·made with yeast [leavened]. You must eat only ·bread made without yeast [unleavened bread] wherever you live.”
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and told them, “·Get the animals [L Go, select/separate lambs] for your families and ·kill [slaughter] the lamb for the Passover. 22 Take a ·branch of the hyssop plant [L a bunch of hyssop], dip it into the bowl filled with blood, and then ·wipe [smear; L touch] the blood on the ·sides and tops of the doorframes [doorposts and lintel]. No one may ·leave that [L go out of the door of his] house until morning. 23 When the Lord ·goes [passes; crosses] through Egypt to ·kill [strike down; L plague] the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the ·sides and tops of the doorframes [doorposts and lintel], and he will ·pass over [12:13] that house. He will not let the ·one who brings death [destroyer] come into your houses and ·kill [strike; plague] you.
24 “You must keep this ·command [word] as a ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] for you and your ·descendants [sons; children] ·from now on [forever]. 25 ·Do this [L You will keep/observe this ritual] when you go to the land the Lord has promised to give you [23:14–15; Lev. 23:5–8; Num. 9:1–14; Deut. 16:1–8; Josh. 5:10–11]. 26 When your ·children [sons] ask you, ‘·Why are we doing these things [L What does this ritual mean]?’ 27 you will say, ‘This is the Passover sacrifice to honor the Lord. When we were in Egypt, the Lord passed over the houses of ·Israel [L the sons/T children of Israel], and when he ·killed [struck down; plagued] the Egyptians, he ·saved [rescued; delivered] our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped the Lord. 28 They did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.
29 At midnight the Lord ·killed [struck] all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt—from the firstborn of ·the king [L Pharaoh] who sat on the throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in ·jail [dungeon; L pit]. Also, all the firstborn farm animals died. 30 ·The king [L Pharaoh], his officers, and all the Egyptians got up during the night because someone had died in every house. So there was a loud outcry everywhere in Egypt.
Israel Leaves Egypt
31 During the night ·the king [L he] called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Get up and leave my people. You and ·your people [L the sons/T children of Israel] may do as you have asked; go and ·worship [serve] the Lord. 32 Take all of your flocks and herds as you have asked, and go. And also bless me.” 33 The Egyptians also ·asked [L urged] the ·Israelites [L people] to hurry and leave, saying, “If you don’t leave, we will all die!”
34 So the people took their dough before the ·yeast [leaven] was added. They wrapped the ·bowls for making dough [L kneading bowls] in clothing and carried them on their shoulders. 35 The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] did what Moses told them to do and asked their Egyptian neighbors for things made of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord caused the Egyptians to think ·well [favorably] of them, and the Egyptians gave the people everything they asked for. So ·the Israelites took rich gifts from them [L they plundered/picked clean the Egyptians].
37 The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] traveled from Rameses to Succoth [C both were in the Nile Delta]. There were about six hundred thousand men ·walking [L on foot], not including the ·women and children [L children]. 38 ·Many other people who were not Israelites [L A mixed multiude] went with them, as well as a large number of sheep, goats, and cattle. 39 ·The Israelites [L They] used the dough they had brought out of Egypt to bake loaves of ·bread without yeast [unleavened bread]. The dough ·had no yeast in it [was unleavened], because they had been ·rushed [driven] out of Egypt and had no time to get food ready for their trip.
40 The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for four hundred thirty years; 41 on the very day the four hundred thirty years ended, the Lord’s ·divisions [hosts; 12:17] of people left Egypt. 42 That night the Lord kept watch to bring them out of Egypt, and so on this same night the Israelites are to keep watch to honor the Lord ·from now on [L throughout their generations].
43 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “Here are the ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] for Passover: No foreigner is to eat the Passover. 44 If someone buys a slave and circumcises him, the slave may eat the Passover. 45 But neither ·a person who lives for a short time in your country [L alien; temporary resident] nor a hired worker may eat it.
46 “The meal must be eaten inside a house; take none of the meat outside the house. Don’t break any of the bones. 47 The whole ·community [congregation; assembly] of Israel ·must take part in this feast [L will act thus]. 48 A ·foreigner [sojourner; wanderer; resident alien] who ·lives [sojourns] with you may share in the Lord’s Passover if all the males in his house become circumcised. Then, since he will be like a ·citizen [native] of Israel, he may share in the meal. But a man who is not circumcised may not eat the Passover meal. 49 The same ·rules [laws; instructions] apply to ·an Israelite born in the country [the native] or to a ·foreigner [sojourner, wanderer; resident alien] living there.”
50 So all the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 On that same day the Lord led the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] out of Egypt by their ·divisions [hosts; 12:17].
Exodus 12
New King James Version
The Passover Instituted(A)
12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 (B)“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the (C)tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be (D)without[a] blemish, a male [b]of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the (E)fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that (F)night; (G)roasted in fire, with (H)unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but (I)roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 (J)You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: [c]with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. (K)It is the Lord’s Passover.
12 ‘For I (L)will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and (M)against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: (N)I am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 ‘So this day shall be to you (O)a memorial; and you shall keep it as a (P)feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast (Q)by an everlasting ordinance. 15 (R)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, (S)that [d]person shall be [e]cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be (T)a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for (U)on this same day I will have brought your [f]armies (V)out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. 18 (W)In 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 For (X)seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
21 Then (Y)Moses called for all the (Z)elders of Israel and said to them, (AA)“Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 (AB)And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and (AC)strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 (AD)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the (AE)blood on the [g]lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and (AF)not allow (AG)the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24 And you shall (AH)observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, (AI)just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 (AJ)And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, (AK)‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people (AL)bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went away and (AM)did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn(AN)
29 (AO)And it came to pass at midnight that (AP)the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was [h]in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of (AQ)livestock. 30 So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
The Exodus
31 Then he (AR)called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, (AS)both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have (AT)said. 32 (AU)Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”
33 (AV)And the Egyptians (AW)urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. 35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians (AX)articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 (AY)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus (AZ)they plundered the Egyptians.
37 Then (BA)the children of Israel journeyed from (BB)Rameses to Succoth, about (BC)six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. 38 A (BD)mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of (BE)livestock. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because (BF)they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.
40 Now the [i]sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in [j]Egypt was (BG)four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that (BH)all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is (BI)a [k]night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.
Passover Regulations(BJ)
43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is (BK)the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have (BL)circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 (BM)A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, (BN)nor shall you break one of its bones. 47 (BO)All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And (BP)when a stranger [l]dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. 49 (BQ)One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”
50 Thus all the children of Israel did; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 51 (BR)And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt (BS)according to their armies.
Footnotes
- Exodus 12:5 perfect or sound
- Exodus 12:5 a year old
- Exodus 12:11 Made ready to travel
- Exodus 12:15 soul
- Exodus 12:15 Put to death
- Exodus 12:17 hosts
- Exodus 12:23 Crosspiece at top of door
- Exodus 12:29 in prison
- Exodus 12:40 Length of the stay
- Exodus 12:40 Sam., LXX Egypt and Canaan
- Exodus 12:42 night of vigil
- Exodus 12:48 As a resident alien
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
