Exodus 11:1-12:20

GOD’S WORD Translation

The Tenth Plague—the Death of the Firstborn

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt. After that he will let you go. When he does, he will be certain to force all of you out of here. ² Now announce to the people ⌞of Israel⌟ that each man and woman must ask the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry.”

³ The Lord made the Egyptians kind to the people. And Moses was highly respected by Pharaoh’s officials and all the Egyptians.

⁴ Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go out among the Egyptians. ⁵ Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who rules the land, to the firstborn children of female slaves who use their handmills, including every firstborn domestic animal. ⁶ There will be loud crying throughout Egypt, such as there has never been or ever will be again. ⁷ But where the Israelites are, not even a dog will be startled by any person or animal. This is how you will see that the Lord shows the distinction between Egypt and Israel. ⁸ Then all these officials of yours will come, bow down to me, and say, ‘You and all the people who follow you, get out!’ After that I will leave.” Burning with anger, Moses left Pharaoh.

⁹ The Lord had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you. This is why I will do more amazing things in Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron showed Pharaoh all these amazing things. Yet, the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, so he wouldn’t let the Israelites leave his country.

Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² “This month will be the very first month of the year for you. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth ⌞day⌟ of this month each man must take a lamb or a young goat for his family—one animal per household. ⁴ A household may be too small to eat a whole animal. That household and the one next door can share one animal. Choose your animal based on the number of people and what each person can eat. ⁵ Your animal must be a one-year-old male that has no defects. You may choose a lamb or a young goat. ⁶ Take care of it until the fourteenth ⌞day⌟ of this month.

“Then at dusk, all the assembled people from the community of Israel must slaughter their animals. ⁷ They must take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they will eat the animals. ⁸ The meat must be eaten that same night. It must be roasted over a fire and eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. ⁹ Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled but roast the whole animal over a fire. ¹⁰ Don’t leave any of it until morning. Anything left over in the morning must be burned up. ¹¹ This is how ⌞you should be dressed when⌟ you eat it: with your belt on, your sandals on your feet, and your shepherd’s staff in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry. It is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “On that same night I will go throughout Egypt and kill every firstborn male, both human and animal. I will severely punish all the gods of Egypt, ⌞because⌟ I am the Lord. ¹³ But the blood on your houses will be a sign for your protection. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing will touch or destroy you when I strike Egypt.

¹⁴ “This day will be one for you to remember. This is a permanent law for generations to come: You will celebrate this day as a pilgrimage festival in the Lord’s honor. ¹⁵ For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the very first day you must remove any yeast that you have in your houses. Whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh day must be excluded from Israel. ¹⁶ You must have a holy assembly on the first day and another one on the seventh. You must not work on these days except to prepare your own meals. That’s all you may do.

¹⁷ You must celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread because it was on this very day that I brought you out of Egypt in organized family groups. This is a permanent law for future generations: You must celebrate this day. ¹⁸ From the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day you must eat unleavened bread. ¹⁹ There should be no yeast in your houses for seven days. Whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be excluded from the community of Israel, whether he is an Israelite or not. ²⁰ Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat ⌞only⌟ unleavened bread.”