The Festival of Passover

16 “Set aside the month of Abib[a](A) and observe the Passover to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night in the month of Abib.(B) Sacrifice to the Lord your God a Passover animal from the herd or flock in the place where the Lord chooses to have his name dwell.(C) Do not eat leavened bread with it.(D) For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of hardship—because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry(E)—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt. No yeast is to be found anywhere in your territory for seven days,(F) and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day is to remain until morning.(G) You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns the Lord your God is giving you. Sacrifice the Passover animal only at the place where the Lord your God chooses to have his name dwell. Do this in the evening as the sun sets at the same time of day you departed from Egypt. You are to cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses, and you are to return to your tents in the morning. Eat unleavened bread for six days. On the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God; do not do any work.

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Footnotes

  1. 16:1 March–April; called Nisan in the post-exilic period; Neh 2:1; Est 3:7

Celebrate the Passover

16 “Observe the month of Abib, keeping the Passover to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt during the night in the month of Abib. Then sacrifice sheep and cattle for the Passover to the Lord your God at the place where the Lord your God will choose to establish his name. You must not eat any yeast with it. Instead, for seven days eat bread without yeast—the bread of affliction—because you left the land of Egypt in haste. Remember the day you went out of the land of Egypt for the rest of your lives. Yeast is not to be seen in any of your territories for seven days. The meat is not to remain from the evening of the first day until morning.

“You must not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your cities[a] that the Lord your God is about to give you. Instead, you are to sacrifice the Passover in the evening at dusk—at the time of day you left Egypt—at the place where your God will choose to establish his name. Boil and eat the Passover meal[b] at the place that the Lord your God will choose. In the morning you may go back to your tents. Eat bread without yeast for six days. Then on the seventh day, hold an assembly to the Lord your God. Don’t do any work.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:5 Lit. gates
  2. Deuteronomy 16:7 The Heb. lacks the Passover meal