The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

11 The Lord said^[a] to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go,^[b] he will drive you out of here. ² Now announce to the people that both men and women should ask their neighbors for silver and gold items.” ³ The Lord gave^[c] the people favor with the Egyptians. In addition, Moses himself was very highly regarded^[d] in the land of Egypt by^[e] Pharaoh’s officials and the people.^(A)

⁴ So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, ⁵ and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is at the grindstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock. ⁶ Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again. ⁷ But against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl,^[f] so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. ⁸ All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Get out, you and all the people who follow you.^[g] After that, I will get out.” And he went out from Pharaoh’s presence fiercely angry.^(B)

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen^(C) to you, so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,^(D) and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

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.^{(E) 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^(F) 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.^{(G) 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.^{(H) 9} Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling^[h] water, but only roasted^(I) over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. ¹⁰ You must not leave any of it until morning;^(J) any part of it left until morning you must burn. ¹¹ Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel,^[i] 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.^(K)

¹² “I will pass through^(L) 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.^{(M) 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.^{(N) 15} You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast^(O) from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off^(P) from Israel. ¹⁶ You are to hold a sacred assembly^(Q) 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.^(R) You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute. ¹⁸ You are to eat unleavened bread in the first month,^(S) 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.”^[j]

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.^{(T) 22} Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood^(U) 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.^(V)

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^(W) ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷ you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice^(X) 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.^{(Y) 30} During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing^(Z) 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!” ^{(AA) 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.^{(AB) 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,^(AC) about six hundred thousand^(AD) 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^(AE) out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰ The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt^[k] was 430 years.^{(AF) 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.^(AG)

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.^{(AH) 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.^{(AI) 47} The whole community of Israel must celebrate^[l] 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;^[m] 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.”^(AJ)

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.^(AK)

13 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Consecrate every firstborn male^(AL) to me, the firstborn from every womb among the Israelites, both man and domestic animal; it is mine.”

³ Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you came out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, for the Lord brought you out of here by the strength of his hand. Nothing leavened may be eaten.^{(AM) 4} Today, in the month of Abib,^[n](AN) you are going out. ⁵ When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites,^[o] which he swore to your ancestors that he would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey,^(AO) you must carry out this ceremony in this month.^{(AP) 6} For seven days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there is to be a festival to the Lord. ⁷ Unleavened bread is to be eaten for those seven days. Nothing leavened may be found among you, and no yeast may be found among you in all your territory. ⁸ On that day explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’^{(AQ) 9} Let it serve as a sign for you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead,^[p](AR) so that the Lord’s instruction may be in your mouth; for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand. ¹⁰ Keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your ancestors, and gives it to you, ¹² you are to present to the Lord every firstborn male of the womb. All firstborn offspring of the livestock you own that are males will be the Lord’s. ¹³ You must redeem every firstborn of a donkey with a flock animal, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. However, you must redeem every firstborn among your sons.^(AS)

¹⁴ “In the future, when your son^(AT) asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘By the strength of his hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of humans and the firstborn of livestock. That is why I sacrifice to the Lord all the firstborn of the womb that are males, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’ ¹⁶ So let it be a sign on your hand and a symbol^[q] on your forehead, for the Lord brought us out of Egypt by the strength of his hand.”^(AU)

The Route of the Exodus

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, “The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.”^{(AV) 18} So he led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.^(AW)

¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph^(AX) with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, “God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.”

²⁰ They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud^(AY) to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. ²² The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.

14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea.^{(AZ) 3} Pharaoh will say of the Israelites: They are wandering around the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in. ⁴ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.^(BA)

The Egyptian Pursuit

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.” ⁶ So he got his chariot ready and took his troops^[r] with him; ⁷ he took six hundred of the best chariots and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in each one. ⁸ The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out defiantly.^{[s](BB) 9} The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen,^[t] and his army—chased^(BC) after them and caught up with them as they camped by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out^(BD) to the Lord for help. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”^(BE)

¹³ But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see^(BF) the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.”^(BG)

Escape through the Red Sea

¹⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp. ¹⁶ As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.^{(BH) 17} As for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

¹⁹ Then the angel of God,^(BI) who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them.^{(BJ) 20} It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided,^{(BK) 22} and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.^(BL)

²³ The Egyptians set out in pursuit—all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen—and went into the sea after them. ²⁴ During the morning watch, the Lord looked down at the Egyptian forces from the pillar of fire^(BM) and cloud, and threw the Egyptian forces into confusion. ²⁵ He caused their chariot wheels to swerve^[u][v] and made them drive^[w] with difficulty. “Let’s get away from Israel,” the Egyptians said, “because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water may come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal depth. While the Egyptians were trying to escape from it, the Lord threw them into the sea.^{(BN) 28} The water came back and covered the chariots^(BO) and horsemen, plus the entire army of Pharaoh that had gone after them into the sea. Not even one of them survived.

²⁹ But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left. ³⁰ That day the Lord saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ When Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed^(BP) in him and in his servant Moses.