Exodus 12
All 51 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.
Read Exodus 12 in the Bible reader, with audio →
- 1The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
- 2"This month will mark a new beginning for you. It will be the 1st month of your year.
- 3Tell the whole community of Israel: On the 10th day of this month, every family must select a lamb — one lamb per household.
- 4If a family is too small to eat a whole lamb, they should share one with their nearest neighbor. Divide it based on how much each person will eat.
- 5The lamb must be a 1-year-old male with no defects. You may choose it from either the sheep or the goats.
- 6Keep the animal until the 14th day of the month. Then the entire assembly of Israel must slaughter their lambs at twilight.
- 7They must take some of the blood and spread it on the two doorposts and the top beam of the doorframe of every house where the lamb will be eaten.
- 8That night they must eat the meat roasted over fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
- 9Don't eat any of it raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole animal over fire — head, legs, and internal organs.
- 10Don't let any of it remain until morning. If anything is left over by morning, burn it.
- 11Here is how you must eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it quickly — this is the LORD's Passover.
- 12That night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn — both human and animal. I will bring judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
- 13The blood on your houses will be a sign that marks where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
- 14This day will be a memorial for you. You must celebrate it as a feast to the LORD — a permanent observance for every generation to come.
- 15For 7 days you must eat unleavened bread. On the very first day, remove all leaven from your houses. Whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
- 16On the 1st day, hold a sacred assembly, and do the same on the 7th day. No work of any kind may be done on those days, except for preparing food — that is the only exception.
- 17You must observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your armies out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a permanent observance for every generation.
- 18Starting on the evening of the 14th day of the 1st month, eat unleavened bread until the evening of the 21st day of the month.
- 19For seven days, no leaven shall be found in your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or born in the land.
- 20Eat nothing with yeast in it. Wherever you live, eat only unleavened bread.'"
- 21Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, "Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb.
- 22Take a bundle of hyssop, dip it in the blood that's in the basin, and brush the blood on the top beam and both doorposts of your doorframe. Then no one is to step outside their house until morning.
- 23The LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, but when he sees the blood on the top beam and the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your homes and strike you.
- 24You must observe these instructions as a permanent law for you and your descendants.
- 25When you enter the land the LORD will give you, just as he promised, you must continue to observe this ceremony.
- 26And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean?'
- 27you must tell them, 'This is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians but spared our families.'" When the people heard this, they bowed down and worshiped.
- 28The Israelites went and did exactly what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
- 29At midnight, the LORD struck down every firstborn in Egypt — from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner locked in the dungeon, and every firstborn among the livestock.
- 30Pharaoh got up in the middle of the night — he, all his officials, and all the Egyptians. A terrible cry of grief swept across Egypt, because there wasn't a single house without someone dead.
- 31That night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Get up! Get out from among my people — you and all the Israelites! Go and serve the LORD, just as you demanded.
- 32Take your flocks and your herds, just as you said, and go! And bless me as well."
- 33The Egyptians pressed the people to leave the country as fast as possible, saying, "If you don't go, we'll all be dead!"
- 34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, wrapped their kneading bowls in cloth, and carried them on their shoulders.
- 35The Israelites did what Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for silver jewelry, gold jewelry, and clothing.
- 36The LORD made the Egyptians look favorably on the Israelites, so they gave them whatever they asked for. In this way, the Israelites stripped Egypt of its wealth.
- 37The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about 600,000 men on foot, besides children.
- 38A mixed multitude also went with them, along with flocks and herds, a large number of cattle.
- 39They baked the dough they had brought from Egypt into flat, unleavened loaves. There was no yeast in it because they had been driven out of Egypt so suddenly that they couldn't wait for dough to rise, and they hadn't prepared any other food for the journey.
- 40The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years.
- 41At the end of 430 years, on that very same day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
- 42That night belongs to the LORD — a night to be honored because he brought them out of Egypt. Every generation of Israelites must observe this night in honor of the LORD.
- 43The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the rules for the Passover: No foreigner may eat it.
- 44However, any slave you have purchased may eat it, once he has been circumcised.
- 45But a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it.
- 46The meal must be eaten inside one house. Don't carry any of the meat outside, and don't break any of the lamb's bones.
- 47The entire community of Israel must celebrate it.
- 48If a foreigner living among you wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover, every male in his household must first be circumcised. Then he may take part as though he were born an Israelite. But no uncircumcised person may eat it.
- 49The same law applies to both native-born Israelites and foreigners living among you."
- 50All the Israelites obeyed. They did exactly what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
- 51On that very day, the LORD brought the Israelites out of Egypt, marching out by their divisions.