First Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ² “This month will be the first month; it will be the first month of the year for you.^{[a] 3} Tell the whole Israelite community: On the tenth day of this month they must take a lamb for each household, a lamb per house. ⁴ 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. ⁵ Your lamb should be a flawless year-old male. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ 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. ⁷ 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. ⁸ That same night they should eat the meat roasted over the fire. They should eat it along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ 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.

Death of Egypt’s oldest children

²⁹ At midnight the Lord struck down all the first offspring in the land of Egypt, from the oldest child of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the oldest child of the prisoner in jail, and all the first offspring of the animals. ³⁰ When Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the Egyptians got up that night, a terrible cry of agony rang out across Egypt because every house had someone in it who had died. ³¹ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron that night and said, “Get up! Get away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go! Worship the Lord, as you said! ³² You can even take your flocks and herds, as you asked. Just go! And bring a blessing on me as well!”

Israel set free

³³ The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the land because they thought, We’ll all be dead. ³⁴ So the people picked up their bread dough before the yeast made it rise, with their bread pans wrapped in their robes on their shoulders. ³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for their silver and gold jewelry as well as their clothing. ³⁶ The Lord made sure that the Egyptians were kind to the people so that they let them have whatever they asked for. And so they robbed the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth. They numbered about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. ³⁸ A diverse crowd also went up with them along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ They baked unleavened cakes from the dough they had brought out of Egypt. The dough didn’t rise because they were driven out of Egypt and they couldn’t wait. In fact, they didn’t have time to prepare any food for themselves.

⁴⁰ The length of time that the Israelites had lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. ⁴¹ At the end of four hundred thirty years, on that precise day, all the Lord’s people in military formation left the land of Egypt. ⁴² For the Lord, that was a night of intent watching, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For all Israelites in every generation, this same night is a time of intent watching to honor the Lord.

Instructions for observing Passover

⁴³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the regulation for the Passover. No foreigner may eat it. ⁴⁴ However, any slave who has been bought may eat it after he’s been circumcised. ⁴⁵ No temporary foreign resident or day laborer may eat it. ⁴⁶ It should be eaten in one house. You shouldn’t take any of the meat outside the house, and you shouldn’t break the bones. ⁴⁷ The whole Israelite community should observe it. ⁴⁸ If an immigrant who lives with you wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, then he and all his males should be circumcised. Then he may join in observing it. He should be regarded as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it. ⁴⁹ There will be one Instruction for the native and for the immigrant who lives with you.

⁵⁰ All the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ On that precise day, the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt in military formation.

13 The Lord said to Moses: ² Dedicate to me all your oldest children. Each first offspring from any Israelite womb belongs to me, whether human or animal.

Unleavened bread

³ Moses said to the people, “Remember this day which is the day that you came out of Egypt, out of the place you were slaves, because the Lord acted with power to bring you out of there. No leavened bread may be eaten. ⁴ Today, in the month of Abib,^[c] you are going to leave. ⁵ The Lord will bring you to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. It is the land that the Lord promised your ancestors to give to you, a land full of milk and honey. You should perform this ritual in this month. ⁶ You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. The seventh day is a festival to the Lord. ⁷ Only unleavened bread should be eaten for seven days. No leavened bread and no yeast should be seen among you in your whole country. ⁸ You should explain to your child on that day, ‘It’s because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

⁹ “It will be a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead so that you will often discuss the Lord’s Instruction, for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with great power. ¹⁰ So you should follow this regulation at its appointed time every year.

Dedication of Israel’s oldest offspring

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you as promised to you and your ancestors, ¹² you should set aside for the Lord whatever comes out of the womb first. All of the first males born to your animal belong to the Lord. ¹³ But every first male donkey you should ransom with a sheep. If you don’t ransom it, you must break its neck. You should ransom every oldest male among your children. ¹⁴ When in the future your child asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you should answer, ‘The Lord brought us with great power out of Egypt, out of the place we were slaves. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the oldest offspring in the land of Egypt, from the oldest sons to the oldest male animals. That is why I offer to the Lord as a sacrifice every male that first comes out of the womb. But I ransom my oldest sons.’ ¹⁶ It will be a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with great power.”

God leads the way

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God didn’t lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though that was the shorter route. God thought, If the people have to fight and face war, they will run back to Egypt. ¹⁸ So God led the people by the roundabout way of the Reed Sea^[d] desert. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt ready for battle. ¹⁹ Moses took with him Joseph’s bones just as Joseph had made Israel’s sons promise when he said to them, “When God takes care of you, you must carry my bones out of here with you.” ²⁰ They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. ²¹ The Lord went in front of them during the day in a column of cloud to guide them and at night in a column of lightning to give them light. This way they could travel during the day and at night. ²² The column of cloud during the day and the column of lightning at night never left its place in front of the people.

Israel crossing the sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses: ² Tell the Israelites to turn back and set up camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea in front of Baal-zephon. You should set up camp in front of it by the sea. ³ Pharaoh will think to himself, The Israelites are lost and confused in the land. The desert has trapped them. ⁴ I’ll make Pharaoh stubborn, and he’ll chase them. I’ll gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. And they did exactly that.

⁵ When Egypt’s king was told that the people had run away, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people. They said, “What have we done, letting Israel go free from their slavery to us?” ⁶ So he sent for his chariot and took his army with him. ⁷ He took six hundred elite chariots and all of Egypt’s other chariots with captains on all of them. ⁸ The Lord made Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, stubborn, and he chased the Israelites, who were leaving confidently. ⁹ The Egyptians, including all of Pharaoh’s horse-drawn chariots, his cavalry, and his army, chased them and caught up with them as they were camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ As Pharaoh drew closer, the Israelites looked back and saw the Egyptians marching toward them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt like this? ¹² Didn’t we tell you the same thing in Egypt? ‘Leave us alone! Let us work for the Egyptians!’ It would have been better for us to work for the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”

¹³ But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground, and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never ever see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you. You just keep still.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to get moving. ¹⁶ As for you, lift your shepherd’s rod, stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two so that the Israelites can go into the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ But me, I’ll make the Egyptians stubborn so that they will go in after them, and I’ll gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh, all his army, his chariots, and his cavalry. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his cavalry.”

¹⁹ God’s messenger, who had been in front of Israel’s camp, moved and went behind them. The column of cloud moved from the front and took its place behind them. ²⁰ It stood between Egypt’s camp and Israel’s camp. The cloud remained there, and when darkness fell it lit up the night. They didn’t come near each other all night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord pushed the sea back by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. The waters were split into two. ²² The Israelites walked into the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians chased them and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry. ²⁴ As morning approached, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian camp from the column of lightning and cloud and threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. ²⁵ The Lord jammed their chariot wheels so that they wouldn’t turn easily. The Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites, because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water comes back and covers the Egyptians, their chariots, and their cavalry.” ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. At daybreak, the sea returned to its normal depth. The Egyptians were driving toward it, and the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the cavalry, Pharaoh’s entire army that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained. ²⁹ The Israelites, however, walked on dry ground through the sea. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰ The Lord rescued Israel from the Egyptians that day. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the amazing power of the Lord against the Egyptians. The people were in awe of the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words:

¹⁸ When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, the people shook with fear and stood at a distance. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die.”

²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and to make sure you are always in awe of God so that you don’t sin.” ²¹ The people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness in which God was present.

Instructions about worship

²² The Lord said to Moses: “Say this to the Israelites: You saw for yourselves how I spoke with you from heaven. ²³ Don’t make alongside me gods of silver or gold for yourselves. ²⁴ Make for me an altar from fertile soil on which to sacrifice your entirely burned offerings, your well-being sacrifices, your sheep, and your oxen. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I make sure my name is remembered. ²⁵ But if you do make for me an altar from stones, don’t build it with chiseled stone since using your chisel on the stone will make it impure. ²⁶ Don’t climb onto my altar using steps: then your genitals won’t be exposed by doing so.”