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Exodus 12-13
English Standard Version
Exodus 12-13
English Standard Version
The Passover
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 (A)“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb (B)according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be (C)without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the (D)fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.[a]
7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the (E)two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with (F)unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but (G)roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And (H)you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with (I)your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. (J)It is the Lord's Passover. 12 For (K)I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on (L)all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: (M)I am the Lord. 13 (N)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 no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 “This day shall be (O)for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a (P)statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 (Q)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, (R)that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a (S)holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for (T)on this very day I brought your (U)hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 (V)In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 (W)For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, (X)that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, (Y)whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves (Z)according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of (AA)hyssop and (AB)dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch (AC)the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. (AD)None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 (AE)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on (AF)the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and (AG)will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, (AH)as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And (AI)when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, (AJ)‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people (AK)bowed their heads and worshiped.
28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn
29 (AL)At midnight the (AM)Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, (AN)from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was (AO)a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, (AP)both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 (AQ)Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
The Exodus
33 (AR)The Egyptians were urgent with the people to 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, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had (AS)asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 (AT)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that (AU)they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
37 And the (AV)people of Israel journeyed from (AW)Rameses to Succoth, (AX)about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 A (AY)mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because (AZ)they were thrust out of Egypt and (BA)could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of (BB)430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a (BC)night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.
Institution of the Passover
43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave[b] that is (BD)bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45 (BE)No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and (BF)you shall not break any of its bones. 47 (BG)All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 (BH)If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he (BI)shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be (BJ)one law for the native and for the (BK)stranger who sojourns among you.”
50 All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the (BL)Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their (BM)hosts.
Consecration of the Firstborn
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 (BN)“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
3 Then Moses said to the people, (BO)“Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, (BP)for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. (BQ)No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 Today, in the month of (BR)Abib, you are going out. 5 And when the Lord brings you into (BS)the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which (BT)he swore to your fathers to give you, a land (BU)flowing with milk and honey, (BV)you shall keep this service in this month. 6 (BW)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8 (BX)You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall (BY)be to you as a sign on your hand and as (BZ)a memorial (CA)between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 (CB)You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.
11 “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, (CC)as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 (CD)you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. 13 (CE)Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every (CF)firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 (CG)And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, (CH)‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of (CI)slavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the (CJ)Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but (CK)all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 (CL)It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for (CM)by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
Pillars of Cloud and Fire
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did (CN)not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people (CO)change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God (CP)led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph[c] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, (CQ)“God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20 And (CR)they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And (CS)the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
Footnotes
- Exodus 12:6 Hebrew between the two evenings
- Exodus 12:44 Or servant; the Hebrew term ‘ebed designates a range of social and economic roles (see Preface)
- Exodus 13:19 Samaritan, Septuagint; Hebrew he
Exodus 12-13
New International Version
Exodus 12-13
New International Version
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread(A)
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month,(B) the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[a](C) for his family, one for each household.(D) 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect,(E) and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month,(F) when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.(G) 7 Then they are to take some of the blood(H) and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night(I) they are to eat the meat roasted(J) over the fire, along with bitter herbs,(K) and bread made without yeast.(L) 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs.(M) 10 Do not leave any of it till morning;(N) if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste;(O) it is the Lord’s Passover.(P)
12 “On that same night I will pass through(Q) Egypt and strike down(R) every firstborn(S) of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods(T) of Egypt. I am the Lord.(U) 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over(V) you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.(W)
14 “This is a day you are to commemorate;(X) for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.(Y) 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.(Z) On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off(AA) from Israel. 16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work(AB) at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.
17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread,(AC) because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt.(AD) Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.(AE) 18 In the first month(AF) you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner(AG) or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off(AH) from the community of Israel. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live,(AI) you must eat unleavened bread.”(AJ)
21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover(AK) lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop,(AL) dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood(AM) on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike(AN) down the Egyptians, he will see the blood(AO) on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over(AP) that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer(AQ) to enter your houses and strike you down.
24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance(AR) for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land(AS) that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children(AT) ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover(AU) sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”(AV) Then the people bowed down and worshiped.(AW) 28 The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded(AX) Moses and Aaron.
29 At midnight(AY) the Lord(AZ) struck down all the firstborn(BA) in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock(BB) as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing(BC) in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
The Exodus
31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship(BD) the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds,(BE) as you have said, and go. And also bless(BF) me.”
33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry(BG) and leave(BH) the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”(BI) 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs(BJ) wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold(BK) and for clothing.(BL) 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed(BM) toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered(BN) the Egyptians.
37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses(BO) to Sukkoth.(BP) There were about six hundred thousand men(BQ) on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people(BR) went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out(BS) of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.
40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt[b] was 430 years.(BT) 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions(BU) left Egypt.(BV) 42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.(BW)
Passover Restrictions
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:(BX)
“No foreigner(BY) may eat it. 44 Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised(BZ) him, 45 but a temporary resident or a hired worker(CA) may not eat it.
46 “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.(CB) 47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.
48 “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.(CC) No uncircumcised(CD) male may eat it. 49 The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner(CE) residing among you.”
50 All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded(CF) Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt(CG) by their divisions.(CH)
Consecration of the Firstborn
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male.(CI) The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt,(CJ) out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.(CK) Eat nothing containing yeast.(CL) 4 Today, in the month of Aviv,(CM) you are leaving. 5 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites,(CN) Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites(CO)—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey(CP)—you are to observe this ceremony(CQ) in this month: 6 For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival(CR) to the Lord. 7 Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. 8 On that day tell your son,(CS) ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand(CT) and a reminder on your forehead(CU) that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.(CV) 10 You must keep this ordinance(CW) at the appointed time(CX) year after year.
11 “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites(CY) and gives it to you, as he promised on oath(CZ) to you and your ancestors,(DA) 12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord.(DB) 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey,(DC) but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.(DD) Redeem(DE) every firstborn among your sons.(DF)
14 “In days to come, when your son(DG) asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.(DH) 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’(DI) 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead(DJ) that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”
Crossing the Sea
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”(DK) 18 So God led(DL) the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.[c] The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.(DM)
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph(DN) with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”[d](DO)
20 After leaving Sukkoth(DP) they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.(DQ) 21 By day the Lord went ahead(DR) of them in a pillar of cloud(DS) to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left(DT) its place in front of the people.
Footnotes
- Exodus 12:3 The Hebrew word can mean lamb or kid; also in verse 4.
- Exodus 12:40 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint Egypt and Canaan
- Exodus 13:18 Or the Sea of Reeds
- Exodus 13:19 See Gen. 50:25.
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