 Exodus: Chapter 12
12:1 God said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt:
12:2 This month shall be the head month to you. It shall be the
first month of the year.
12:3 Speak to the entire community of Israel, saying: On the tenth
of this month, every man must take a lamb for
each extended family, a lamb for each household.
12:4 If the household is too small for a lamb, then he and a close
neighbor can obtain a [lamb together], as long as it is for
specifically designated individuals. Individuals shall be designated
for a lamb according to how much each one will eat.
12:5 You must have a flawless young animal, a one-year-old male. You
can take it from the sheep or from the goats.
12:6 Hold it in safekeeping until the fourteenth day of this month.
The entire community of Israel shall then slaughter [their
sacrifices] in the afternoon.
12:7 They must take the blood and place it on
the two doorposts and on the beam above the door of the houses in
which they will eat [the sacrifice].
12:8 Eat the [sacrificial] meat during the night, roasted over fire.
Eat it with matzah and bitter herbs.
12:9 Do not eat it raw or cooked in water, but only roasted over
fire, including its head, its legs, and its internal organs.
12:10 Do not leave any of it over until morning. Anything that is
left over until morning must be burned in fire.
12:11 You must eat it with your waist belted, your shoes on your
feet, and your staff in your hand, and you must eat it in haste. It
is the Passover (Pesach) offering to God.
12:12 I will pass through Egypt on that night, and I will kill every
first-born in Egypt, man and beast. I will perform acts of judgment
against all the gods of Egypt. I [alone] am God.
12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the
houses where you are staying. I will see the blood and pass you by (pesach).
There will not be any deadly plague among you when I strike Egypt.
12:14 This day must be one that you will remember. You must keep it
as a festival to God for all generations. It is a law for all time
that you must celebrate it.
12:15 Eat matzahs for seven days. By the first day, you must have
your homes cleared of all leaven. Whoever eats leaven from the first
day until the seventh day will have his soul cut off from Israel.
12:16 The first day shall be a sacred holiday, and the seventh day
shall [also] be a sacred holiday. No work may be done on these
[days]. The only [work] that you may do is that which is needed so
that everyone will be able to eat.
12:17 Be careful regarding the matzahs, for on this very day I will
have brought your masses out of Egypt. You must carefully keep this
day for all generations; it is a law for all times.
12:18 From the 14th day of the first month in the evening, until the
night of the 21st day of the month, you must eat [only] matzahs.
12:19 During [these] seven days, no leaven may be found in your
homes. If someone eats anything leavened his soul shall be cut off
from the community of Israel. [This is true] whether he is a
proselyte or a person born into the nation.
12:20 You must not eat anything leavened. In all the areas where you
live, eat matzahs.
12:21 Moses summoned the elders of Israel, and said to them, 'Gather
[the people] and get yourselves sheep for your families, so that you
will be able to slaughter the Passover sacrifice.
12:22 'You will then have to take a bunch of
hyssop and dip it into the blood that [will be placed] in a basin.
Touch the beam over the door and the two doorposts with some of the
blood in the basin. Not a single one of you may go out the
door of his house until morning.
12:23 'God will then pass through to strike Egypt.
When he sees the blood over the door and on
the two doorposts, God will pass over that door, and not let the
force of destruction enter your houses to strike.
12:24 'You must keep this ritual as a law, for
you and your children forever.
12:25 When you come to the land that God will give you, as He
promised, you must [also] keep this service.
12:26 Your children may [then] ask you, 'What is this service to
you?'
12:27 You must answer, 'It is the Passover service to God. He passed
over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the
Egyptians, sparing our homes.'
The people bent their heads and prostrated themselves.
12:28 The Israelites went and did as God had
instructed Moses and Aaron. They did it exactly.
For more information about Passover, visit Kosher4Passover.com |
