Exodus 12:1-20

Contemporary English Version

The Passover

12 ^(A) Some time later the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

² This month^[a] is to be the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell the people of Israel that on the tenth day of this month the head of each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for his family to eat. ^4-5 If any family is too small to eat the whole animal, they must share it with their next-door neighbors. Choose either a sheep or a goat, but it must be a one-year-old male that has nothing wrong with it. And it must be large enough for everyone to have some of the meat.

⁶ Each family must take care of its animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, when the animals are to be killed. ⁷ Some of the blood must be put on the two doorposts and above the door of each house where the animals are to be eaten. ⁸ That night the animals are to be roasted and eaten, together with bitter herbs and thin bread made without yeast. ⁹ Don't eat the meat raw or boiled. The entire animal, including its head, legs, and insides, must be roasted. ¹⁰ Eat what you want that night, and the next morning burn whatever is left. ¹¹ When you eat the meal, be dressed and ready to travel. Have your sandals on, carry your walking stick in your hand, and eat quickly. This is the Passover Festival in honor of me, your Lord.

¹² That same night I will pass through Egypt and kill the first-born son in every family and the first-born male of all animals. I am the Lord, and I will punish the gods of Egypt. ¹³ The blood on the houses will show me where you live, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Then you won't be bothered by the terrible disasters I will bring on Egypt.

^14 (B) Remember this day and celebrate it each year as a festival in my honor. ¹⁵ For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. And on the first of these seven days, you must remove all yeast from your homes. If you eat anything made with yeast during this festival, you will no longer be part of Israel. ¹⁶ Meet together for worship on the first and seventh days of the festival. The only work you are allowed to do on either of these two days is that of preparing the bread.

¹⁷ Celebrate this Festival of Thin Bread as a way of remembering the day that I brought your families and tribes out of Egypt. And do this each year. ¹⁸ Begin on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month by eating bread made without yeast. Then continue this celebration until the evening of the twenty-first day. ¹⁹ During these seven days no yeast is allowed in anyone's home, whether they are native Israelites or not. If you are caught eating anything made with yeast, you will no longer be part of Israel. ²⁰ Stay away from yeast, no matter where you live. No one is allowed to eat anything made with yeast!