Exodus 6-14

EasyEnglish Bible

God promises to save the Israelites

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. I will use my great power to make him let my people go. With my strong power I will cause him to make them leave his land.’

² And God said to Moses, ‘I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I showed them that I am God Almighty. But I did not let them know me by my special name, the Lord. ⁴ I also made my covenant with them. I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreign people. ⁵ I have heard the Israelites when they cry in pain. I know that the Egyptians have caused the Israelites to be their slaves. Now I have thought about my covenant. ⁶ So you must say this to the Israelites: “I am the Lord. I will remove you from the power of the Egyptians. You will not have to do hard work to serve them as their slaves any more. I will use my strength to save you and I will punish the Egyptians. ⁷ I will cause you to be my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I am your God who saved you from the power of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will take you to live in another land. That is the land that I promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. Yes, I will give it to you and it will belong to you. I am the Lord.” ’

⁹ Moses told the Lord's message to the Israelites. But they refused to listen to him. They were very weak and tired, because their Egyptian masters were so cruel to them.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ ‘Go and speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him that he must let the Israelites go out of his country.’ ¹² But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Look! Even the Israelites have not listened to me. So Pharaoh certainly will not listen to me. You know that I do not speak well.’

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites, and about Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

The ancestors of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These were the leaders of their family clans:

Israel's firstborn son was Reuben. Reuben's sons were: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were Reuben's family clans.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul. Shaul was the son of a Canaanite woman. These were Simeon's family clans.

¹⁶ These are the names of the sons of Levi, from the oldest to the youngest: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi himself lived for 137 years.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon and their clans: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived for 133 years.

¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.

These were the family clans of Levi, from the oldest to the youngest.

²⁰ Amram married Jochebed, his father's sister. Aaron and Moses were their sons. Amram lived for 137 years.

²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.

²² The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.

²³ Aaron married Elisheba. She was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon. Elisheba's children were: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were Korah's family clans.

²⁵ Aaron's son, Eleazar, married one of Putiel's daughters. Phinehas was their son.

These were the leaders of the Levite family clans.

²⁶ This shows us the ancestors of Aaron and Moses. They were the men to whom the Lord spoke. He said to them, ‘Lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Lead them out in their families and clans, like an army.’ ²⁷ Moses and Aaron were the men who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They told him that the Israelites would leave Egypt. They were the same Moses and Aaron as we read about in the list of Israelite families.

Aaron will speak on Moses' behalf

²⁸ When the Lord spoke to Moses in the country of Egypt, ²⁹ he said, ‘I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I say to you.’ ³⁰ But Moses said, ‘You know that I do not speak well. Pharaoh will not listen to me.’

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Look, I have made you like God to Pharaoh. Your brother Aaron will speak on your behalf, like your prophet.^{[a] 2} You must say everything that I command you to say. Your brother Aaron must tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.

³ But I will make Pharaoh's mind become hard. I will do many miracles in Egypt that show my power. ⁴ But Pharaoh will still refuse to listen to you. Then I will show my authority and I will punish the Egyptians. I will bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt like an army. ⁵ Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. I will show my great strength in Egypt and I will lead the Israelites out from there.’

Aaron's stick becomes a snake

⁶ Moses and Aaron obeyed all the commands of the Lord. ⁷ Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ ‘Pharaoh will say to you, “Show me a miracle.” Then say to Aaron, “Take your stick and throw it down in front of Pharaoh.” When Aaron does that, his stick will become a snake.’

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They did everything that the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his stick in front of Pharaoh and his officers. And the stick became a snake! ¹¹ Then Pharaoh called for his wise men and his magicians to come to him. The Egyptian magicians did the same thing as Aaron. They used their secret magic to do it. ¹² Each of them threw down his stick and it became a snake. But Aaron's stick ate all their sticks!^{[b] 13} But Pharaoh's mind was hard and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. That was what the Lord had said would happen, and it did!

1: Moses changes water into blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh's mind is still hard. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes to the river. Wait for him by the edge of the river. Then take in your hand the stick that became a snake. ¹⁶ Then say to Pharaoh, “The Lord, the God of the Israelites, has sent me to you to say, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert.’ But until now, you have not listened to my message. ¹⁷ So this is what the Lord says: In this way, you will know that I am the Lord. Look! I will hit the water in the Nile river with the stick that is in my hand. Then the water will become blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the river will die, and the river will have a very bad smell. Then the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile river.” ’

¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your stick. Lift up your hand over the waters of Egypt. Lift your stick up over their rivers and their streams. Lift it up over their lakes and pools of water. Do that so that all the water becomes blood.” There will be blood in every part of Egypt. There will even be blood in their buckets and bowls.’

²⁰ Moses and Aaron obeyed the command of the Lord. Aaron lifted up the stick in front of Pharaoh and his servants. He hit the water in the Nile river with the stick. Then all the water in the river became blood. ²¹ The fish in the river died. The river had such a bad smell that the Egyptians could not drink its water. There was blood in every part of Egypt.

²² But the Egyptian magicians used their magic and they did the same thing. So Pharaoh's mind continued to be hard. He still refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The Lord had said that this would happen, and it did! ²³ Pharaoh turned away and he went into his house. He did not worry about what had happened. ²⁴ The Egyptians dug holes on the shore of the Nile river to find water to drink. They could not drink the water from the river itself.^[c]

²⁵ After the Lord had made the water in the river become blood, another seven days passed.

2: Frogs

8 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, “This is the message from the Lord: Let my people go so that they may worship me. ² If you refuse to let them go, I will send thousands of frogs to bring trouble to your whole country. ³ The Nile river will be full of frogs. The frogs will go into your house. They will jump into your bed. They will go into the houses of your servants. They will go into the houses of your people. They will jump into your ovens and into your dishes. ⁴ The frogs will jump all over you. They will jump on your people and on all your servants.” ’

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your stick in your hand. Then raise your hand over the rivers, the streams and the pools. You will cause frogs to come up over the whole of Egypt.” ’

⁶ So Aaron lifted up his hand over the water of Egypt. Then the frogs came up and they covered the whole of Egypt.

⁷ But the magicians used their magic to do the same thing. They also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said, ‘Pray to the Lord. Ask him to remove the frogs from me and from my people. Then I will let your people go. They can offer sacrifices to the Lord.’

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘I will let you choose the time when I should pray to God. Then I will ask God to do this for you, for your servants and for your people. I will ask God to remove the frogs from you and from all your houses. The frogs will remain only in the Nile river.’

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, ‘Do it tomorrow.’ Moses answered, ‘I will do what you have asked. Then you will know that there is nobody like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will go away from you and your houses. They will go away from your servants and your people. They will remain only in the river.’

¹² So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Then Moses prayed to the Lord about the frogs that he had brought to punish Pharaoh. ¹³ And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs in the houses, in the yards and in the fields all died. ¹⁴ The people swept the frogs together to make big heaps. There was a very bad smell over the whole country. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that the trouble had gone, his mind became hard again. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The Lord had said that this would happen, and it did!

3: Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Lift up your stick and hit the dirt on the ground. It will become gnats in the whole land of Egypt.” ’

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron obeyed God. Aaron lifted up his hand and he hit the dirt with his stick. The dirt became gnats that flew onto all the people and onto all the animals. The dirt on the ground became gnats all over Egypt. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptian magicians tried to use their magic to make gnats appear. But they could not do it. The gnats were on all the people and on all the animals.

¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the work of God.’ But there was no change in Pharaoh's thoughts. He would not listen to them. The Lord had said that this would happen, and it did!

4: Flies

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Get up early in the morning. Meet Pharaoh when he goes out to the river. Then say to him, “The Lord says: You must let my people go. Let them go to worship me. ²¹ If you do not let my people go, I will send thousands of flies on you. I will send them on your servants and on your people. I will send them into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies. The flies will cover all the ground where people live.

²² But it will be different in the region of Goshen, where my people live. I will not send flies there. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am doing my work here in this land. ²³ I will make a difference between my people and your people. This miracle will happen tomorrow.” ’

²⁴ That is what the Lord did. Great numbers of flies came into Pharaoh's house and into his servants' houses. The flies went all over Egypt and they destroyed the whole land.

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said to them, ‘Go! You can offer sacrifices to your God here, in Egypt.’ ²⁶ But Moses said, ‘It would not be right to do that. The Egyptians do not like our sacrifices of animals. If we offer these sacrifices to the Lord our God, the Egyptians will be angry with us. They will throw stones at us to kill us. ²⁷ So we must go on a journey for three days into the desert. We will offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there, as he has told us to do.’

²⁸ So Pharaoh said, ‘I will let you go. You may go into the desert and offer sacrifices to the Lord your God there. But do not go very far away. And pray for me too.’

²⁹ Then Moses said, ‘I will leave you now, and I will pray to the Lord. Tomorrow, all the flies will go away from you, your officers and your people. But be careful! Do not deceive us, as you did before. You must really let the people go away to offer sacrifices to the Lord.’

³⁰ So Moses left Pharaoh and he prayed to the Lord. ³¹ The Lord did what Moses asked him. All the flies left Pharaoh, his officers and his people. Not one fly remained! ³² But again, Pharaoh's mind became hard. He refused to let the people go.

5: Death of animals

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Israelites says this: Let my people go so that they may worship me. ² If you refuse to let them go, you will have more trouble. If you still keep them in Egypt, ³ the Lord will punish you. He will send a very bad illness on all your animals. Your animals in the fields, your horses, donkeys, camels, cows, sheep and goats will all become very ill. ⁴ But the Lord will make a difference between the animals of the Israelites and the animals of the Egyptians. None of the animals of the Israelites will die.” ’

⁵ The Lord decided when this would happen. He said, ‘Tomorrow I will make this happen in the land of Egypt.’ ⁶ So on the next day, the Lord did it! All the animals of the Egyptians died. But not one of the animals of the Israelites died. ⁷ Pharaoh sent his men to see what had happened. They saw that not one of the animals of the Israelites was dead! But Pharaoh's mind was still hard. He did not let the people go.

6: Boils

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take in your hands some ashes from an oven. Throw them up in the air as Pharaoh watches. ⁹ They will become very small dust over the whole country of Egypt. The dust will cause boils to appear on the skin of people and animals. It will happen all over Egypt.’

¹⁰ So they took ashes from an oven and they stood in front of Pharaoh. Moses threw the ashes up in the air. Then bad boils appeared on both people and animals. ¹¹ All the Egyptians had boils, even the magicians. Because of the boils, the magicians could not stand in front of Moses. ¹² But Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to be hard. The Lord had told Moses that this would happen, and it did!

7: Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Get up early in the morning and go to Pharaoh. Say to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Israelites says: Let my people go to worship me. ¹⁴ This time, I will send all my troubles to punish you. I will send them against you, your officers and your people. I want you to know that there is nobody as great as me in the whole earth. That is why I am doing this. ¹⁵ Already I could have used my power to destroy you and your people. With one very bad trouble, I could have removed you from the earth. ¹⁶ But I have let you live, to show you my power. Then people all over the world will know how great I am. ¹⁷ You are still too proud to let my people go.

¹⁸ Look! Tomorrow at this time, I will send a very great storm of hail. Nobody has ever seen hail fall like this in Egypt before now. From Egypt's first day as a country until today, nobody has seen a storm like this. ¹⁹ Now send your servants out to tell this message to your people. You must bring into your houses all your animals from the fields to be safe. The hail will fall on every person and on every animal that is still outside. They will all die.” ’

²⁰ Some of Pharaoh's officers were afraid of what the Lord said he would do. So they quickly brought their servants and animals inside their houses. ²¹ But others did not believe the Lord's message. They left their servants and animals outside in the fields.

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand towards the sky. Then hail will fall over all the country of Egypt. It will fall on people and on animals. It will fall on all the plants that grow in the fields of Egypt.’

²³ When Moses lifted up his stick towards the sky, the Lord sent a great storm. He sent thunder, hail and lightning. ²⁴ The hail fell and there was lightning like fire. It was the worst storm anywhere in Egypt since Egypt had become a nation. ²⁵ Everywhere in Egypt, the hail knocked down everything that was in the fields. It knocked down both people and animals. It knocked down all the plants in the fields and it broke all the trees. ²⁶ But no hail fell in the region of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said to them, ‘This time, I have done a bad thing. The Lord is right. I and my people are guilty. ²⁸ The storms with the thunder and the hail are too much for us! Pray to the Lord to take them away. Then I will let you go! You do not need to stay any longer in Egypt.’

²⁹ Then Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my hands to the Lord and I will pray to him. The storm will stop and there will be no more hail. Then you will know that the whole world belongs to the Lord. ³⁰ But I know you and your officers. You still do not respect the Lord God.’^[d]

³¹ At that time, the barley was ripe in the fields and the flax was nearly ripe. So the storm of hail destroyed the flax and the barley. ³² But the hail did not destroy the wheat and other grains. Those crops become ripe later in the year.^[e]

³³ Then Moses left Pharaoh and he went out of the city. He lifted up his hands to the Lord and he prayed. Then the storms and the hail stopped. The heavy rain stopped falling on the earth.

³⁴ Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the storms had stopped. So he did a bad thing again. His mind and his officers' minds became hard. ³⁵ Pharaoh still refused to obey God. He did not let the Israelites go. The Lord had told Moses that this would happen, and it did!

8: Locusts

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to see Pharaoh. I have caused his mind to become hard. I have also caused his officers' minds to become hard. I have done this so that I can do miracles to show him my power. ² In the future, you can tell your children and your children's children how I punished the Egyptians. You can tell them about the miracles that I did among the Egyptians. In this way, you will know that I am the Lord.’

³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Israelites says this: “You are still too proud to obey me. Let my people go so that they may worship me. ⁴ If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. ⁵ They will cover the whole country. Nobody will be able to see the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy. They will eat any crops that you still have. That will include every tree that is growing in your fields. ⁶ They will fill your houses, and your officers' houses. They will fill all the houses in Egypt! It will be worse than anything that your fathers or your grandfathers have ever seen. Nothing like this has ever happened in Egypt before now.” ’ Then Moses turned away and left Pharaoh.

⁷ Pharaoh's officers said to him, ‘Will you let this man bring trouble to us for ever? Allow the people to go. Then they can worship the Lord their God. Surely you understand by now that this man has destroyed Egypt!’

⁸ So Pharaoh's officers took Moses and Aaron back to him. Pharaoh said to them, ‘Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, who will go?’

⁹ Moses said, ‘We will all go, both young people and old people. We will take our sons and daughters. We will also take our animals, because we must have a feast to worship the Lord.’

¹⁰ Pharaoh said to them, ‘No! If I let you go with your families like that, you will need the Lord to take care of you! I can see that you want to make trouble. ¹¹ No! If you really want to go and worship the Lord, only the men can go.’ Pharaoh was angry and he told Moses and Aaron to go away.^[f]

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the country of Egypt. Then locusts will fly all over the land. They will eat every plant that grows in the ground. They will eat everything that the hail has not destroyed.’

¹³ So Moses lifted up his stick over the country of Egypt. Then the Lord caused an east wind to blow across the land, for the whole day and the whole night. In the morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts flew into every part of the country of Egypt. Thousands of locusts sat on everything. There had never been so many locusts in Egypt before. And it will never happen again. ¹⁵ The locusts covered all the ground, until the ground became black with locusts. They ate all the plants that grew in the ground, and all the fruit of the trees. They ate everything that the hail had not destroyed. Not one green thing remained on any tree or plant, in all the country of Egypt.

¹⁶ Then Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said, ‘I have done bad things against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Please forgive my sins just one more time. Ask the Lord your God to remove this punishment of death from me.’

¹⁸ Moses left Pharaoh and he prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind. This wind lifted the locusts up and it blew them away into the Red Sea.^[g] Not one locust remained in all the country of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to become hard again. Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go.

9: Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand towards the sky. Then it will become dark over the whole country of Egypt. It will be so dark that people will be able to feel it.’ ²² So Moses lifted up his hand towards the sky and it became completely dark. It was dark through the whole country of Egypt for three days. ²³ People could not see each other. Nobody could move anywhere for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

²⁴ Then Pharaoh called Moses to come to him. He said, ‘Go and worship the Lord. Even your families may go with you. Only your animals must remain in Egypt.’

²⁵ But Moses said, ‘Then you will have to give us animals for our sacrifices and burnt offerings. We need our animals to offer to the Lord our God.^{[h] 26} So we must take our animals with us. Not one animal can remain behind. We must take them to worship the Lord our God. Until we arrive in the desert, we will not know which animals to use as sacrifices.’

²⁷ But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to be hard. Pharaoh would not agree to let the Israelites go. ²⁸ Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Go away from me! Be careful not to come back! I never want to see you again! On the day that you see my face, you will die!’

²⁹ Moses replied, ‘You are right! You will never see me again.’

10: Death

11 The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will cause Pharaoh and Egypt to have one more trouble. Then Pharaoh will let you go out of Egypt. He will cause you to leave very quickly and go away from him. ² So tell the Israelite people now what they must do. Every man and every woman must ask the Egyptians that live near them for gold things and silver things.’

³ The Lord caused the Egyptians to be kind to the Israelite people. As for Moses himself, Pharaoh's officers and the Egyptian people respected him as an important man.

⁴ So Moses went to the king and he said, ‘The Lord God says this: “At about midnight, I will travel through the whole country of Egypt. ⁵ I will cause all the firstborn sons in Egypt to die. The firstborn son of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, will die. The firstborn son of the female slave who makes flour, will die. Even the firstborn of the farm animals will die.^{[i] 6} Everyone will be crying loudly in the whole country of Egypt. Nothing like that has ever happened before now, and it will never happen again. ⁷ But no trouble will happen to the Israelite people. Not even a dog will frighten them or their animals. Then you will know that I, the Lord, make a difference between Egypt and Israel.” ’

⁸ Moses continued to say to the king, ‘All your officers will come to me. They will fall down in front of me and they will say, “Now go! Leave here with all your people.” After that, I will leave.’

After he said that, Moses left Pharaoh. Moses was very angry.

⁹ The Lord had already said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. But that will give me the chance to do even greater miracles in Egypt.’

¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these miracles in front of Pharaoh. But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to be hard. So Pharaoh would not let the Israelites leave his country.

The first Passover meal

12 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the country of Egypt. ² He said, ‘This month will be the first month of each year for you. ³ Tell all the Israelite people to do this on the tenth day of this month: Each man must choose a lamb to kill as a sacrifice for his family. That will be one lamb for each home. ⁴ But the family may be too small to eat a whole lamb. Then they must share a lamb with another family that lives near. You must decide how much each person can eat and then count the number of people. ⁵ The lamb that you choose must have nothing wrong with it. It must be a male lamb that is one year old. It can be either a young sheep or a young goat.

⁶ Keep the lamb safe until the 14th day of this month. Then every Israelite family must kill their lamb in the evening. ⁷ They must take some of its blood. They must put the blood on the wood that is round the door of their house. They must put it on each side of the door and above the door. They must do this in every house where they will eat a lamb. ⁸ That night, they must cook the meat over the fire. They must eat it immediately, with bitter herbs and with bread that has no yeast in it. ⁹ You must cook the meat before you eat it. Cook it over the fire. Do not cook it in water. Cook the whole lamb, with its head, its legs and the inside parts of its body. ¹⁰ You must eat all the meat before morning arrives. If some of it still remains in the morning, then you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you must eat the lamb: Dress yourselves so that you are ready to travel. Put your shoes on your feet. Take your stick in your hand. Then eat the food quickly. This is the Passover meal which shows that you obey me, the Lord.

¹² On the night that you eat the Passover meal, I will travel through the country of Egypt. I will kill every firstborn son and every firstborn male animal. I will punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ When you put the blood round the doors of your houses, that will be a sign to show that you live there. When I see the blood on your house, I will pass over you.^[j] No trouble will hurt you, when I attack the people of Egypt.

¹⁴ In future years, you must remember this day as a special day every year. It will be a festival when you worship me, the Lord. You and your descendants must do this every year, for all time. ¹⁵ For seven days, you must eat flat bread that has no yeast in it. On the first day of the Passover festival, you must take all the yeast out of your houses. During those seven days, if anyone eats bread with yeast in it, he will no longer belong to my people, the Israelites.

¹⁶ On the first day of the festival, you must bring together all the people to a special meeting. And you must do the same thing on the seventh day. On these special days, you must not do your usual work. You may prepare the food that you need to eat on those days. That is the only work that you may do.

¹⁷ This will be the Feast of Flat Bread, when you eat bread with no yeast in it. You will remember that I brought you all out of the country of Egypt on this day. You marched out like an army, family by family! That is why you must enjoy this day as a special day, for all time. This is a rule that you must always obey. ¹⁸ In the first month of each year, you must eat bread without yeast in it. Do this from the evening of the 14th day until the evening of the 21st day. ¹⁹ For those seven days, you must not have any yeast in your houses. Whoever eats anything with yeast in it will no longer belong to my people, the Israelites. Everyone must obey these rules, those who live among you as strangers, as well as those who have been born in your land. ²⁰ Eat nothing that has yeast in it. Whatever country you live in, you must eat bread without yeast in it.’

²¹ Then Moses called the leaders of the Israelites to come to him. He said to them, ‘Go immediately and choose a lamb for each of your families. Then kill the animals for the Passover feast. ²² Put the blood into a dish. Then take a branch of hyssop.^[k] Make it wet with the blood that is in the dish. Then put some of the blood on the wood that is round your door. Nobody must go out of the door of his house until the morning. ²³ The Lord will pass through the country and he will kill the Egyptians. But when the Lord sees the blood on the wood round the door, he will pass over that house. He will not let the death angel come into your houses. The Lord will not let him kill you.

²⁴ You must obey these rules always, both you and your descendants, for all time. ²⁵ You will go into the land that the Lord promised to give you. Then you must continue to obey these rules. ²⁶ Your children may say to you, “What does this feast mean?” ²⁷ Then you must say to them, “It is the Lord's Passover sacrifice. The Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites when they were in Egypt. He killed the Egyptians but he saved our families.” ’ Then the people bent their heads down to the ground and they worshipped God.

²⁸ The Israelites did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ At midnight, the Lord killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt. The firstborn son of Pharaoh, the king, died. But also, the firstborn son of any man who was in prison died. Every firstborn son in Egypt died. All the firstborn animals also died. ³⁰ Pharaoh and all his officers woke up in the middle of the night. All the Egyptians also woke up in the middle of the night. Everyone was crying loudly everywhere in Egypt. In every home, somebody had died that night.

The Israelites leave Egypt

³¹ During the night, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said, ‘Get out of here! Take all the Israelites with you and go away from my people! Go and worship the Lord, as you asked me before. ³² Take all your animals with you, as you have said. Just go away! But also pray that God will bless me.’

³³ The Egyptians were telling the Israelites to leave quickly. They wanted them to go out of the country immediately. The Egyptians said, ‘If we do not send them away immediately, we will all die!’

³⁴ So the Israelites took their bread before they had cooked it. They had not even put the yeast into it. They put the bread in dishes and they put clothes round the dishes. Then they carried the dishes on their shoulders. ³⁵ The Israelites obeyed Moses. They asked the Egyptians for silver and gold. They also asked them for clothes. ³⁶ The Lord had caused the Egyptians to be kind to the Israelites. Because of this, the Egyptians gave the Israelites everything that they asked for. In that way, the Israelites took away all the valuable things that belonged to the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites travelled from Rameses to Succoth. There were about 600,000 men who walked. There were also many women and children. ³⁸ Many other people also travelled with them. They had a very large number of sheep, goats and cows. ³⁹ The Israelites cooked the bread that they had brought with them from Egypt. It had no yeast in it, because they had to leave Egypt quickly. The Egyptians did not let them wait. So the Israelites did not have time to prepare any food for themselves.^[l]

⁴⁰ The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. ⁴¹ It was on the last day of the 430 years that all the Lord's people left Egypt. They left in family groups, like an army. ⁴² The Lord carefully watched his people all that night, when he brought them out of Egypt. Because of that, all Israelites must watch carefully during this special night. They and their descendants must do this every year, to thank the Lord.

Rules for the Passover festival

⁴³ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘These are the rules for the Passover festival:

No foreign person may eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁴ If you buy a foreign slave, you must first circumcise him. Then he may eat the food. ⁴⁵ But if you pay him money for his work, he must not eat the food. A visitor also must not eat the food.

⁴⁶ You must eat the meal in one house. You must not take any of the meat outside the house. You must not break any of the bones in the meat. ⁴⁷ All the Israelites must enjoy the feast together.

⁴⁸ There may be a foreign person who lives among you. He may want to join you to eat the Lord's Passover meal. But he must first be circumcised as well as all the men in his house. Then he can join with you and eat the Passover meal. He will be like a man who has been born in Israel. But no male person without circumcision can join the Passover feast. ⁴⁹ Both the people who were born as Israelites and the foreign people who live among you must obey this rule.’

⁵⁰ All the Israelites did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ On that same day, the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, in family groups, like an army.

Firstborn sons

13 The Lord spoke to Moses. ² He said, ‘Keep every firstborn male separate and special for me. Every male who is the first to be born of his mother is mine. He is mine, whether he is man or animal.’^[m]

³ Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day, the day when you came out of Egypt. You left the place where you were slaves. The Lord brought you out with his powerful authority. Remember! Do not eat anything that has yeast in it on this day. ⁴ Today you are leaving Egypt. It is the first month of the year, called Abib. ⁵ The Lord will bring you to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. God promised your ancestors that he would give that land to you. The land will give you plenty of good food and drink, enough for everyone. When the Lord brings you into that place, you must eat the Passover meal to worship God in this month every year. ⁶ For seven days you must eat bread without yeast in it. Then on the seventh day you must have a festival for the Lord. ⁷ Eat bread without yeast during those seven days. There must not be any yeast left among you, in the whole of your land.

⁸ On that day, you must tell your children the reason for this festival. Tell them, “We do this because of what the Lord did for us. He brought us out of Egypt.” ⁹ This special time will be like a mark on your hand. It will be like something that you fix between your eyes. It will be a sign that causes you to remember what happened on this day. Then you will not forget to speak about the Law of the Lord. Remember this: The Lord brought you out of Egypt with his great power. ¹⁰ Every year, at the right time you must do what I have said.

¹¹ The Lord will bring you into the land of the Canaanites. It is the land that he promised to give to you and to your ancestors. When he gives it to you, you must do this: ¹² You must give to the Lord all the firstborn males. That includes your own firstborn sons, and the male animals that are born first. They belong to the Lord. ¹³ When a donkey gives birth to her first male, you must give a lamb to God, instead of the donkey. If you do not do that, you must kill the donkey. You must break its neck. For any of your own firstborn sons, you must give an animal instead of your son.

¹⁴ One day, your son may ask you, “What does this mean?” Then you must say to him, “The Lord brought us out of Egypt with his powerful authority. He took us away from the place where we were slaves. ¹⁵ Pharaoh refused to let us go. But the Lord killed all the firstborn sons in the country of Egypt. He killed all the firstborn males, both people and animals. That is why I offer all the firstborn male animals as a sacrifice to the Lord. But for each of my firstborn sons, I give an animal to God instead.” ¹⁶ It will be like a mark on your hand or something that you fix between your eyes. It will be a sign that causes you to remember what happened. You will remember that the Lord used his great power to bring us out of Egypt.’

The Israelites cross the Red Sea

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go away, God did not lead them through the country of the Philistines. This was a short way for them to go, but God did not lead them that way. God said, ‘If the people have to fight a war, they may change their minds. Then they may return to Egypt.’ ¹⁸ So God led the people round by the desert road. They went towards the Red Sea. When the Israelites came out of the country of Egypt, they were ready to fight.

¹⁹ Moses took Joseph's bones with him. Joseph had made the Israelites promise to do this. He had said, ‘One day, God will come and he will save you. Then you must carry my bones with you when you leave this place.’^[n]

²⁰ The Israelites travelled from Succoth and they arrived at Etham. They put up their tents there, on the edge of the desert. ²¹ As they travelled, the Lord was leading them. During the day, he was there as a pillar of cloud that went in front of them. During the night, he went as a pillar of fire. This gave them light, so they could travel during the day or the night. ²² The cloud did not leave the people during the day. Nor did the fire leave them during the night. It was always in front of them.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Tell the Israelites that they must turn round. They must go and stay near Pi-Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You must put up your tents beside the sea, across from Baal Zephon. ³ Then Pharaoh will think, “The Israelites are confused. They do not know where they are going. The desert has stopped them.” ⁴ Then I will cause Pharaoh's mind to become hard again. He will go to catch the Israelites. I will show how great I am when I win against Pharaoh and his whole army. Because of this, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.’

The Israelites did what God said.

⁵ Someone told the king of Egypt that the Israelites had run away. Then Pharaoh and his officers changed their minds about the Israelites. They said, ‘We have done a foolish thing. We have let the Israelites go. We have lost our slaves!’

⁶ So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and he took his army with him. ⁷ He took 600 of his best chariots with him., as well as all the other chariots of Egypt. All the chariots had officers to drive them. ⁸ The Lord caused the mind of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to be hard. So Pharaoh followed after the Israelites, when they left Egypt without any fear.

⁹ The Egyptian soldiers followed after the Israelites to catch them. They went with all Pharaoh's horses, chariots and officers. The Egyptian army reached the place where the Israelites had put up their tents. That was beside the sea, near Pi-Hahiroth, across from Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh came nearer, the Israelites looked up. They saw that the Egyptian army had followed them. The Israelites became very afraid. They called loudly to the Lord to help them. ¹¹ They said to Moses, ‘Why have you brought us here, to die in the desert? Surely there were enough places in Egypt to bury dead people! You should never have brought us out of Egypt! ¹² We said to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone. Let us work for the Egyptians.” It would have been better for us to be their slaves than to die here in the desert!’

¹³ Then Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid! Be brave! You will see how the Lord will save you today. Look at the Egyptians over there. You will never see them again! ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you. You will only have to watch.’

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not continue to call to me for help! Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹⁶ You yourself must do this: Lift up your stick and hold your hand out over the sea. The water will become two separate parts. Then the Israelites can cross through the middle of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ This is what I, the Lord, will do: I will cause the minds of the Egyptians to become hard. They will follow the Israelites into the sea to catch them. I will show how great I am when I win against Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, his horses and their riders. ¹⁸ When I do that, the Egyptians will know that I really am the Lord. They will know that I am great.’

¹⁹ The angel of God had been leading the army of the Israelites. Now he moved and he went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved and it stood behind the army. ²⁰ It stood between the Egyptian army and the Israelite army. During the whole night, the Egyptians were in the dark, because of the cloud. But the cloud gave light to the Israelites. So the two armies did not come near to each other during the whole night.

²¹ Then Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. During that whole night, the Lord made a strong wind blow from the east. This caused the sea to become two separate parts. The ground between the water became dry land. ²² So the Israelites walked on the dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.

²³ The Egyptians followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea to catch them. All Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and their riders did this. ²⁴ Just before dawn, the Lord looked down from the pillar of cloud with fire in it. He saw the Egyptian army and he made them become confused. ²⁵ He stopped the wheels of their chariots, so that the Egyptians could not drive them properly. So the Egyptians said, ‘Let us run away from the Israelite army! It is the Lord who fights for them against Egypt.’

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the water will return back. The sea will cover the Egyptians, their chariots, their horses and their riders.’ ²⁷ So Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. At dawn, the sea returned to its proper place. The Egyptians tried to run away from the water, but the Lord made them drown in the middle of the sea.

²⁸ The water returned to its proper place. It covered all of Pharaoh's army that had followed the Israelites into the sea. It covered all the chariots, the horses and their riders. Not one of Pharaoh's soldiers was still alive! ²⁹ But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side. ³⁰ On that day, the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptian army. The Israelites saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians, which lay on the shore.

³¹ The Israelites saw the great power that the Lord had used against the Egyptians. As a result, they respected the Lord and his power. They trusted the Lord to help them, and they also trusted Moses, his servant.