The Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, (A)“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 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. 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. Your lamb shall be (C)without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 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]

“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. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with (F)unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 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.

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Notas al pie

  1. Exodus 12:6 Hebrew between the two evenings

First Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month will be the first month; it will be the first month of the year for you.[a] Tell the whole Israelite community: On the tenth day of this month they must take a lamb for each household, a lamb per house. If a household is too small for a lamb, it should share one with a neighbor nearby. You should divide the lamb in proportion to the number of people who will be eating it. Your lamb should be a flawless year-old male. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You should keep close watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month. At twilight on that day, the whole assembled Israelite community should slaughter their lambs. They should take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the beam over the door of the houses in which they are eating. That same night they should eat the meat roasted over the fire. They should eat it along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over fire with its head, legs, and internal organs. 10 Don’t let any of it remain until morning, and burn any of it left over in the morning. 11 This is how you should eat it. You should be dressed, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. You should eat the meal in a hurry. It is the Passover of the Lord. 12 I’ll pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I’ll strike down every oldest child in the land of Egypt, both humans and animals. I’ll impose judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be your sign on the houses where you live. Whenever I see the blood, I’ll pass over[b] you. No plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 “This day will be a day of remembering for you. You will observe it as a festival to the Lord. You will observe it in every generation as a regulation for all time. 15 You will eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses because anyone who eats leavened bread anytime during those seven days will be cut off from Israel. 16 The first day and the seventh day will be a holy occasion for you. No work at all should be done on those days, except for preparing the food that everyone is going to eat. That is the only work you may do. 17 You should observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because on this precise day I brought you out of the land of Egypt in military formation. You should observe this day in every generation as a regulation for all time. 18 In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you should eat unleavened bread. 19 For seven days no yeast should be found in your houses because whoever eats leavened bread will be cut off from the Israelite community, whether the person is an immigrant or a native of the land. 20 You should not eat anything made with yeast in all your settlements. You should eat only unleavened bread.”

21 Then Moses called together all of Israel’s elders and said to them, “Go pick out one of the flock for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood that is in the bowl, and touch the beam above the door and the two doorposts with the blood in the bowl. None of you should go out the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord comes by to strike down the Egyptians and sees the blood on the beam above the door and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door. He won’t let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you down. 24 You should observe this ritual as a regulation for all time for you and your children. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord has promised to give you, be sure that you observe this ritual. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ 27 you will say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for the Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. When he struck down the Egyptians, he spared our houses.’” The people then bowed down and worshipped. 28 The Israelites went and did exactly what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron to do.

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Notas al pie

  1. Exodus 12:2 March–April; cf Exod 13:4
  2. Exodus 12:13 Heb verb of the noun Passover