Psalm 85

Restoration of Favor

For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

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.

¹² He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. ¹³ On the contrary, when you host a banquet,^(A) invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind.^{(B) 14} And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid^(C) at the resurrection of the righteous.”^(D)