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The Passover

Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the second year after they came out from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying, “Let the Israelites[a] observe the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month at twilight[b] you will perform it at its appointed time according to all its decrees; and according to all its stipulations you will observe it.” So Moses spoke to the Israelites[c] to observe the Passover. And they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight[d] in the desert of Sinai. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, thus the Israelites[e] did.

And it happened, men who were unclean by a dead person[f] were not able to perform the Passover on that day. And they came before[g] Moses and Aaron on that day. And those men said to him, “Although we are unclean by a dead person,[h] why are we hindered from presenting the offering of Yahweh at its appointed time in the midst of the Israelites?”[i] Moses said to them, “Stay. I will hear what Yahweh commands to you.”

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the Israelites,[j] saying, ‘Each man that is unclean by a dead person[k] or is on a far journey, you or your descendants,[l] he will observe the Passover of Yahweh. 11 On the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight[m] they will observe it; they will eat it with unleavened bread and bitter plants. 12 They will leave none of it until morning, and they will not break a bone in it; they will observe it according to every decree of the Passover. 13 But the man who is clean and not on a journey, and he fails to observe the Passover, that person will be cut off from the people because he did not present the offering of Yahweh on its appointed time. That man will bear his guilt. 14 If an alien dwells with you he will observe the Passover of Yahweh according to the decree of the Passover and according to its stipulation; thus you will have one decree for you, for the alien and for the native of the land.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 9:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Numbers 9:3 Literally “between the two evenings”
  3. Numbers 9:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  4. Numbers 9:5 Literally “between the two evenings”
  5. Numbers 9:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  6. Numbers 9:6 Literally “by a life of a person”
  7. Numbers 9:6 Literally “in the presence of”
  8. Numbers 9:7 Literally “by a life of a person”
  9. Numbers 9:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  10. Numbers 9:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  11. Numbers 9:10 Literally “by a life of a person”
  12. Numbers 9:10 Literally “generations”
  13. Numbers 9:11 Literally “between the two evenings”

The Passover at Sinai(A)

The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai during the first month of the second year that they had left Egypt, “The Israelis are to observe the Passover at its appointed time on the fourteenth day of this month. You are to observe it at this appointed time between the evenings. You are to observe it according to all its decrees and laws.”

So Moses instructed the Israelis to observe the Passover. They observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai. The Israelis did everything that the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Special Passover Rules

But there were men who couldn’t observe the Passover that day because they had come in contact with a corpse. That very day, they approached Moses and Aaron and asked, “Why can’t we bring an offering to the Lord at the appointed time among the Israelis, even though we are unclean because we came in contact with a corpse?”

“Wait while I hear what the Lord has to say about you,” Moses replied.

Then the Lord told Moses, 10 “Instruct[a] the Israelis that when any of you or your descendants becomes unclean due to contact with a corpse, or if he is on a long journey, he nevertheless is to observe the Lord’s Passover. 11 On the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight, they are to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They are not to leave any of it to remain until morning nor are they to break any of its bones. They are to observe it according to all the statutes of the Passover. 13 Now as to the person[b] who is clean and isn’t traveling, but fails to observe the Passover, that person[c] is to be eliminated from his people, because he didn’t bring an offering to the Lord at its appointed time. That person is to bear his sin. 14 If a resident alien lives with you and wants to observe the Lord’s Passover, let him observe it according to the statutes and laws of the Passover. You are to maintain the same statute[d] for the resident alien as you do for the native of the land.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 9:10 Or speak
  2. Numbers 9:13 Lit. man
  3. Numbers 9:13 Or soul
  4. Numbers 9:14 Lit. one decree shall be for you