The Passover Lamb

12 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of ^[a]Egypt, ² “^(A)This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a ^[b]lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a ^[c]lamb for ^[d]each household. ⁴ Now if the household is too small for a ^[e]lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the ^[f]number of persons in them; in proportion to ^[g]what each one should eat, you are to ^[h]divide the lamb. ⁵ Your ^[i]lamb shall be ^(B)an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ^6 [j]You shall keep it until the ^(C)fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it ^[k](D)at twilight. ^7 (E)Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel ^[l]of the houses in which they eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh ^(F)that same night, ^(G)roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with ^(H)unleavened bread ^[m](I)and bitter herbs. ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather ^(J)roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with ^(K)its entrails. ^10 (L)And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire. ¹¹ Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment ^[n]belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is ^(M)the Lord’s Passover. ¹² For ^(N)I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and ^(O)against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—^(P)I am the Lord. ^13 (Q)The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you ^[o]live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you ^[p]to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Feast of Unleavened Bread

¹⁴ ‘Now ^(R)this day shall be ^(S)a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as ^[q](T)a permanent ordinance.

²⁴ And ^(A)you shall keep this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. ²⁵ When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has ^[a]promised, you shall keep this ^[b]rite. ^26 (B)And when your children say to you, ‘^[c]What does this rite mean to you?’ ²⁷ then you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to ^(C)the Lord because He passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but ^[d]spared our homes.’” ^(D)And the people bowed low and worshiped.

⁸ And ^(A)you shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ And ^(B)it shall ^[a]serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder ^[b]on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with ^(C)a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.