Death of the Firstborn Announced^(A)

11 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. ^(B)Afterward he will let you go from here. ^(C)When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, ^(D)articles of silver and articles of gold.” ^3 (E)And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man ^(F)Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴ Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ^(G)‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; ⁵ and ^(H)all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. ^6 (I)Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, ^(J)such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. ^7 (K)But against none of the children of Israel ^(L)shall a dog ^[a]move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’ ⁸ And ^(M)all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” ^(N)Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

⁹ But the Lord said to Moses, ^(O)“Pharaoh will not heed you, so that ^(P)My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; ^(Q)and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover Instituted^(R)

12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ^2 (S)“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 ^(T)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 ^(U)without^[b] blemish, a male ^[c]of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ Now you shall keep it until the ^(V)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 ^(W)night; ^(X)roasted in fire, with ^(Y)unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but ^(Z)roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. ^10 (AA)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: ^[d]with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. ^(AB)It is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² ‘For I ^(AC)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 ^(AD)against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: ^(AE)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 ^(AF)a memorial; and you shall keep it as a ^(AG)feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast ^(AH)by an everlasting ordinance. ^15 (AI)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, ^(AJ)that ^[e]person shall be ^[f]cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day there shall be ^(AK)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 ^(AL)on this same day I will have brought your ^[g]armies ^(AM)out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. ^18 (AN)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 ^(AO)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 ^(AP)Moses called for all the ^(AQ)elders of Israel and said to them, ^(AR)“Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. ^22 (AS)And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and ^(AT)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 (AU)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the ^(AV)blood on the ^[h]lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^(AW)not allow ^(AX)the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. ²⁴ And you shall ^(AY)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, ^(AZ)just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. ^26 (BA)And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ^(BB)‘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 ^(BC)bowed their heads and worshiped. ²⁸ Then the children of Israel went away and ^(BD)did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn^(BE)

^29 (BF)And it came to pass at midnight that ^(BG)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 ^[i]in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of ^(BH)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 ^(BI)called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, ^(BJ)both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have ^(BK)said. ^32 (BL)Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”

^33 (BM)And the Egyptians ^(BN)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 ^(BO)articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. ^36 (BP)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus ^(BQ)they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ Then ^(BR)the children of Israel journeyed from ^(BS)Rameses to Succoth, about ^(BT)six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. ³⁸ A ^(BU)mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of ^(BV)livestock. ³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because ^(BW)they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰ Now the ^[j]sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in ^[k]Egypt was ^(BX)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 ^(BY)all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It is ^(BZ)a ^[l]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^(CA)

⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is ^(CB)the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. ⁴⁴ But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have ^(CC)circumcised him, then he may eat it. ^45 (CD)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, ^(CE)nor shall you break one of its bones. ^47 (CF)All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ And ^(CG)when a stranger ^[m]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 (CH)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 (CI)And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ^(CJ)according to their armies.

The East Gate and the Prince

44 Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary ^(A)which faces toward the east, but it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, ^(B)because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. ³ As for the ^(C)prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to ^(D)eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.”

Those Admitted to the Temple

⁴ Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the ^[a]temple; so I looked, and ^(E)behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; ^(F)and I fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, ^(G)“Son of man, ^[b]mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning all the ^(H)ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.

⁶ “Now say to the ^(I)rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “O house of Israel, ^(J)let Us have no more of all your abominations. ^7 (K)When you brought in ^(L)foreigners, ^(M)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and when you offered ^(N)My food, ^(O)the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not ^(P)kept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.” ⁹ Thus says the Lord God: ^(Q)“No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.

Laws Governing Priests

^10 (R)“And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, ^(S)as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; ^(T)they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ^(U)they shall stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and ^(V)caused^[c] the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have ^(W)raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity. ^13 (X)And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall ^(Y)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will make them ^(Z)keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.

^15 (AA)“But the priests, the Levites, ^(AB)the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary ^(AC)when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they ^(AD)shall stand before Me to offer to Me the ^(AE)fat and the blood,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall ^(AF)enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near ^(AG)My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. ¹⁷ And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that ^(AH)they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. ^18 (AI)They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, ^(AJ)they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall ^(AK)not sanctify the people.

^20 (AL)“They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow ^(AM)long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed. ^21 (AN)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²² They shall not take as wife a ^(AO)widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.

²³ “And ^(AP)they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to ^(AQ)discern between the unclean and the clean. ^24 (AR)In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, ^(AS)and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.

²⁵ “They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves. ^26 (AT)After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, ^(AU)he must offer his sin offering ^(AV)in the inner court,” says the Lord God.

²⁸ “It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I ^(AW)am their inheritance. You shall give them no ^(AX)possession in Israel, for I am their possession. ^29 (AY)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; ^(AZ)every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ The ^(BA)best^[d] of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you ^(BB)shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, ^(BC)to cause a blessing to rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that ^(BD)died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.

By Faith We Understand

11 Now faith is the ^[a]substance of things hoped for, the ^[b]evidence ^(A)of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

³ By faith we understand that ^(B)the ^[c]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Faith at the Dawn of History^(C)

⁴ By faith ^(D)Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still ^(E)speaks.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ^(F)“and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

⁷ By faith ^(G)Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, ^(H)prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of ^(I)the righteousness which is according to faith.

Faithful Abraham^(J)

⁸ By faith ^(K)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, ^(L)dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, ^(M)the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for ^(N)the city which has foundations, ^(O)whose builder and maker is God.

¹¹ By faith ^(P)Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and ^(Q)she^[d] bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him ^(R)faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as ^(S)dead, were born as many as the ^(T)stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

The Heavenly Hope

¹³ These all died in faith, ^(U)not having received the ^(V)promises, but ^(W)having seen them afar off ^[e]were assured of them, embraced them and ^(X)confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things ^(Y)declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind ^(Z)that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed ^(AA)to be called their God, for He has ^(AB)prepared a city for them.

The Faith of the Patriarchs^(AC)

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, ^(AD)when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ^18 [f]of whom it was said, ^(AE)“In Isaac your seed shall be called,” ¹⁹ concluding that God ^(AF)was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

²⁰ By faith ^(AG)Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, ^(AH)blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

²² By faith ^(AI)Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

The Faith of Moses^(AJ)

²³ By faith ^(AK)Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s ^(AL)command.

²⁴ By faith ^(AM)Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the ^[g]passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming ^(AN)the ^[h]reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures ^[i]in Egypt; for he looked to the ^(AO)reward.

²⁷ By faith ^(AP)he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith ^(AQ)he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

²⁹ By faith ^(AR)they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

By Faith They Overcame

³⁰ By faith ^(AS)the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith ^(AT)the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who ^[j]did not believe, when ^(AU)she had received the spies with peace.

³² And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of ^(AV)Gideon and ^(AW)Barak and ^(AX)Samson and ^(AY)Jephthah, also of ^(AZ)David and ^(BA)Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, ^(BB)stopped the mouths of lions, ^34 (BC)quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ^35 (BD)Women received their dead raised to life again.

Others were ^(BE)tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and ^(BF)of chains and imprisonment. ^37 (BG)They were stoned, they were sawn in two, ^[k]were tempted, were slain with the sword. ^(BH)They wandered about ^(BI)in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, ^(BJ)in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹ And all these, ^(BK)having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be ^(BL)made perfect apart from us.

God the Righteous Judge

A Psalm of Asaph.

Promised Faithfulness to the Lord

A Psalm of David.