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
King James Version
12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.
22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and 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.
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.
33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
36 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.
37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.
39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.
42 It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.
43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
44 But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will 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 one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
Exodus 12
New American Standard Bible
The Passover Lamb
12 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of [a]Egypt, 2 “(A)This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a [b]lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a [c]lamb for [d]each household. 4 Now if the household is too small for a [e]lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the [f]number of persons in them; in proportion to [g]what each one should eat, you are to [h]divide the lamb. 5 Your [i]lamb shall be (B)an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 [j]You shall keep it until the (C)fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it [k](D)at twilight. 7 (E)Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel [l]of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh (F)that same night, (G)roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with (H)unleavened bread [m](I)and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather (J)roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with (K)its entrails. 10 (L)And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire. 11 Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment [n]belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is (M)the Lord’s Passover. 12 For (N)I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and (O)against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—(P)I am the Lord. 13 (Q)The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you [o]live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you [p]to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Feast of Unleavened Bread
14 ‘Now (R)this day shall be (S)a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as [q](T)a permanent ordinance. 15 For (U)seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove dough with yeast from your houses; for whoever eats anything with yeast from the first day until the seventh day, (V)that [r]person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 And (W)on 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 for what must be eaten by every person—that alone may be [s]prepared by you. 17 You shall also keep (X)the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this (Y)very day I brought your [t]multitudes out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as (Z)a [u]permanent ordinance. 18 (AA)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 (AB)seven days there shall be no dough with yeast found in your houses; for whoever eats anything with yeast, that [v](AC)person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall not eat anything with yeast; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”
21 Then (AD)Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and (AE)take for yourselves [w]lambs according to your families, and slaughter (AF)the Passover lamb. 22 And (AG)you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and [x]apply 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 (AH)the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; but when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will (AI)not allow the (AJ)destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. 24 And (AK)you shall keep this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has [y]promised, you shall keep this [z]rite. 26 (AL)And when your children say to you, ‘[aa]What does this rite mean to you?’ 27 then you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to (AM)the Lord because He passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but [ab]spared our homes.’” (AN)And the people bowed low and worshiped.
28 Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
29 Now it came about at (AO)midnight that (AP)the Lord struck all (AQ)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 in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of (AR)cattle. 30 And Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was (AS)a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. 31 Then (AT)he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, (AU)get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, [ac]worship the Lord, as you have said. 32 Take (AV)both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”
Exodus of Israel
33 (AW)The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in a hurry, for they said, “We will all be dead.” 34 So the people took (AX)their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.
35 (AY)Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; 36 and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Therefore they (AZ)plundered the Egyptians.
37 Now the (BA)sons of Israel journeyed from (BB)Rameses to Succoth, about (BC)six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. 38 A (BD)mixed multitude also went up with them, [ad]along with flocks and herds, a (BE)very large number of livestock. 39 And they baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had no yeast, since they were (BF)driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they [ae]prepared any provisions for themselves.
40 Now the time [af]that the sons of Israel had lived in Egypt was (BG)430 years. 41 And at the end of 430 years, on (BH)this very day, (BI)all the [ag]multitudes of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt.
Ordinance of the Passover
42 (BJ)It is a night [ah]to be observed for the Lord, for having brought them out of the land of Egypt; this night is for the Lord, [ai]to be observed by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.
43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of (BK)the Passover: no [aj](BL)foreigner is to eat it; 44 but as for every (BM)slave [ak]that someone has purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 (BN)A stranger or a hired worker shall not eat it. 46 It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring any of the meat outside of the house, (BO)nor are you to break any bone of it. 47 (BP)All the congregation of Israel are to [al]celebrate this. 48 But (BQ)if a stranger resides with you and [am]celebrates the Passover to the Lord, all of his males are to be circumcised, and then he shall come near to [an]celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised male may eat it. 49 [ao](BR)The same law shall [ap]apply to the native as to the stranger who resides among you.”
50 Then all the sons of Israel did so; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day (BS)the Lord brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt (BT)according to their [aq]multitudes.
Footnotes
- Exodus 12:1 Lit Egypt, saying
- Exodus 12:3 Or kid
- Exodus 12:3 Or kid
- Exodus 12:3 Lit the
- Exodus 12:4 Or kid
- Exodus 12:4 Or amount
- Exodus 12:4 Lit each man’s eating
- Exodus 12:4 Lit compute for
- Exodus 12:5 Or kid
- Exodus 12:6 Lit It shall be to you for a guarding
- Exodus 12:6 Lit between the two evenings
- Exodus 12:7 Lit upon
- Exodus 12:8 Lit in addition to
- Exodus 12:11 I.e., for travel
- Exodus 12:13 Lit are
- Exodus 12:13 Lit for destruction
- Exodus 12:14 Or an eternal
- Exodus 12:15 Lit soul
- Exodus 12:16 Lit done
- Exodus 12:17 Lit armies
- Exodus 12:17 Or eternal
- Exodus 12:19 Lit soul
- Exodus 12:21 Lit sheep
- Exodus 12:22 Lit cause to touch
- Exodus 12:25 Lit spoken
- Exodus 12:25 Lit service
- Exodus 12:26 Lit What is this service to you?
- Exodus 12:27 Lit delivered
- Exodus 12:31 Or serve
- Exodus 12:38 Lit and
- Exodus 12:39 Lit made
- Exodus 12:40 Or of the sons of Israel who lived
- Exodus 12:41 Lit armies
- Exodus 12:42 Or of vigil
- Exodus 12:42 Or of vigil
- Exodus 12:43 Lit son of a stranger
- Exodus 12:44 Lit of a man, an acquisition of money
- Exodus 12:47 Lit perform
- Exodus 12:48 Lit performs
- Exodus 12:48 Lit perform
- Exodus 12:49 Lit One law
- Exodus 12:49 Lit be
- Exodus 12:51 I.e., multitudes in battle formation
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.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
