Passover Celebrated

^19 (A)On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover.

Passover Celebrated

30 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. ² For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover ^(A)in the second month— ³ for they could not keep it ^(B)at that time ^(C)because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— ⁴ and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. ⁵ So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, ^(D)from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed. ^6 (E)So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, ^(F)return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of ^(G)the kings of Assyria. ^7 (H)Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. ^8 (I)Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, ^(J)that his fierce anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For ^(K)if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children ^(L)will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For ^(M)the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, ^(N)if you return to him.”

^10 (O)So the couriers went from city to city through the country of ^(P)Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but ^(Q)they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. ¹¹ However, ^(R)some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded ^(S)by the word of the Lord.

¹³ And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread ^(T)in the second month, a very great assembly. ¹⁴ They set to work and removed ^(U)the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away ^(V)and threw into the brook Kidron. ^15 (W)And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. ^(X)And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, ^(Y)so that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. ^16 (Z)They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses ^(AA)the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the Lord. ¹⁸ For a majority of the people, ^(AB)many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise ^(AC)than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon everyone ^19 (AD)who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.”^{[a] 20} And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. ²¹ And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept ^(AE)the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might^[b] to the Lord. ²² And Hezekiah spoke ^(AF)encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing ^(AG)peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

²³ Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast ^(AH)for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness. ²⁴ For Hezekiah king of Judah ^(AI)gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests ^(AJ)consecrated themselves in great numbers. ²⁵ The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, ^(AK)and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced. ²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for ^(AL)since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Then ^(AM)the priests and the Levites arose and ^(AN)blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to ^(AO)his holy habitation in heaven.

First Passover in Canaan

¹⁰ While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover ^(A)on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho.

⁶ and you shall keep it until the ^(A)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 ^(B)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 ^(C)unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but ^(D)roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰ And ^(E)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 ^(F)your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. ^(G)It is the Lord's Passover. ¹² For ^(H)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 ^(I)all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: ^(J)I am the Lord. ^13 (K)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 ^(L)for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a ^(M)statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. ^15 (N)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, ^(O)that person shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day you shall hold a ^(P)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 ^(Q)on this very day I brought your ^(R)hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. ^18 (S)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 (T)For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, ^(U)that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, ^(V)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 ^(W)according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of ^(X)hyssop and ^(Y)dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch ^(Z)the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. ^(AA)None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ^23 (AB)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on ^(AC)the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^(AD)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, ^(AE)as he has promised, you shall keep this service. ²⁶ And ^(AF)when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ you shall say, ^(AG)‘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 ^(AH)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 (AI)At midnight the ^(AJ)Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^(AK)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 ^(AL)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, ^(AM)both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. ^32 (AN)Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The Exodus

^33 (AO)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 ^(AP)asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ^36 (AQ)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that ^(AR)they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.