The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

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- Chapter 12 -

(Numbers 9:1–14)

The Lord also said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

“This month will be for you the beginning of the months. It will be first in the months of the year.

Speak to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day of this month, let everyone take a lamb, by their families and houses.

But if the number is less than may suffice to be able to consume the lamb, he shall accept his neighbor, who has been joined with his house according to the number of souls that may suffice to be able to eat the lamb.

And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a one year old male. According to this rite, you shall also take a young goat.(a)

And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. And the entire multitude of the sons of Israel shall immolate it toward evening.

And they shall take from its blood, and place it on both the door posts and the upper threshold of the houses, in which they will consume it.(b)

And that night they shall eat the flesh, roasted by fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce.

You shall not consume anything from it raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted by fire. You shall devour the head with its feet and entrails.

Neither shall there remain anything from it until morning. If anything will have been left over, you shall burn it with fire.

Now you shall consume it in this way: You shall gird your waist, and you shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall consume it in haste. For it is the Passover (that is, the Crossing) of the Lord.

And I will cross through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man, even to cattle. And I will bring judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.

But the blood will be for you as a sign in the buildings where you will be. And I will see the blood, and I will pass over you. And the plague will not be with you to destroy, when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

(Leviticus 23:4–8; Numbers 28:16–25; Deuteronomy 16:1–8)

Then you shall have this day as a memorial, and you shall celebrate it as a solemnity to the Lord, in your generations, as an everlasting devotion.

For seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day there shall be no leaven in your houses. Whoever will consume anything leavened, from the first day, even until the seventh day, that soul shall perish from Israel.

The first day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day shall be venerated with the same festivity. You shall do no work in these days, except that which pertains to the eating.

And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. For on this same day, I will lead your army out of the land of Egypt, and you shall keep this day, in your generations, as a perpetual ritual.

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, toward evening, you shall consume the unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the same month, toward evening.(c)

For seven days, there shall not be found leaven in your houses. Whoever will eat leaven, his soul will perish from the assembly of Israel, as much with the newcomers as with the natives of the land.

You shall not consume any leaven. In all your dwelling places, you shall eat unleavened bread.”

Then Moses called all the elders of the sons of Israel, and he said to them: “Go, taking an animal by your families, and sacrifice the Passover.

And dip a little bundle of hyssop in the blood which is at the entrance, and sprinkle the upper threshold with it, and both of the door posts. Let none of you go out of the door of his house until morning.(d)

For the Lord will cross through, striking the Egyptians. And when he will see the blood on the upper threshold, and on both the door posts, he will pass over the door of the house and not permit the Striker to enter into your houses or to do harm.

You shall keep this word as a law for you and for your sons, forever.

And when you have entered into the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he has promised, you shall observe these ceremonies.

And when your sons will say to you, ‘What is the meaning of this religious observance?’

You shall say to them: ‘It is the victim of the crossing of the Lord, when he passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, striking the Egyptians, and freeing our houses.’ ” And the people, bowing down, worshipped.

And the sons of Israel, departing, did just as the Lord had instructed Moses and Aaron.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

Then it happened, in the middle of the night: the Lord struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the captive woman who was in prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

And Pharaoh rose up in the night, and all his servants, and all of Egypt. And there arose a great outcry in Egypt. For there was not a house in which no one lay dead.

The Exodus Begins

And Pharaoh, calling Moses and Aaron in the night, said: “Rise up and go forth from among my people, you and the sons of Israel. Go, sacrifice to the Lord, just as you say.

Your sheep and herds take along with you, as you requested, and as you go away, bless me.”

And the Egyptians urged the people to go away from the land quickly, saying, “We will all die.”

Therefore, the people took bread dough before it was leavened. And tying it in their cloaks, they placed it on their shoulders.(e)

And the sons of Israel did just as Moses had instructed. And they petitioned the Egyptians for vessels of silver and of gold, and very many garments.

Then the Lord granted favor to the people in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they bestowed on them. And they despoiled the Egyptians.

And the sons of Israel set out from Rameses to Soccoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides little ones.

But also an innumerable mix of common people ascended with them, sheep and herds and animals of diverse kinds, exceedingly many.(f)

And they baked the bread, which a little while ago they had taken out of Egypt as dough. And they made unleavened bread baked under ashes. For it was not able to be leavened, with the Egyptians compelling them to leave and not permitting them to cause any delay. Neither did they have occasion to prepare any meat.

Now the habitation of the sons of Israel, while they remained in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

Having been completed, on the same day all the army of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt.

This night is a worthy observance of the Lord, when he led them out of the land of Egypt. This all the sons of Israel must observe in their generations.

Instructions for the Passover

And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron: “This is the religious observance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat from it.

But every bought servant shall be circumcised, and so he may eat from it.

The newcomer and the hired hand shall not eat from it.

In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry its flesh outside, nor shall you break its bone.

The entire assembly of the sons of Israel shall do this.

And if any sojourner will be willing to cross over into your settlement, and to keep the Passover of the Lord, all his males shall first be circumcised, and then he shall celebrate the rite. And he shall be just like a native of the land. But if any man is not circumcised, he shall not eat from it.

The law shall be the same for the native born and for the settler who sojourns with you.”

And all the sons of Israel did just as the Lord had instructed Moses and Aaron.

And on the same day, the Lord led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their companies.

Footnotes

(a)12:5 A kid:The phase might be performed, either with a lamb or with a kid: and all the same rites and ceremonies were to be used with the one as with the other.(Challoner)

(b)12:7 The word ‘superliminaribus’ is translated more literally as ‘upper threshold.’ It can also be translated as ‘lintels’ or ‘upper door posts.’(Conte)

(c)12:18 Unleavened bread:By this it appears, that our Saviour made use of unleavened bread, in the institution of the blessed sacrament, which was on the evening of the paschal solemnity, at which time there was no leavened bread to be found in Israel.(Challoner)

(d)12:22 Sprinkle, etc:This sprinkling the doors of the Israelites with the blood of the paschal lamb, in order to their being delivered from the sword of the destroying angel, was a lively figure of our redemption by the blood of Christ.(Challoner)

(e)12:34 The phrase ‘conspersam farinam’ refers to flour sprinkled with water, i.e. bread dough that has not risen.(Conte)

(f)12:38 The common people were Egyptians, who were amazed by the Hebrews and their leaders, Moses and Aaron. They followed them to Succoth, and to the Red Sea, and many even crossed the Sea with them, as is evident from Numbers, chapter 12. These were the Egyptians and others who listened to the Lord and brought their servants and cattle into the houses, so that they did not die in the hail storm. That is why they had many cattle and why they were willing to follow Moses and his people.(Conte)

(Numbers 9:1–14)

The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

“This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.

Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household;

and if the household is too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls. You shall make your count for the lamb according to what everyone can eat.

Your lamb shall be without defect, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats.

You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.

They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it.

They shall eat the meat in that night, roasted with fire, with unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs.

Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts.

You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire.

This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s Passover.

For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

(Leviticus 23:4–8; Numbers 28:16–25; Deuteronomy 16:1–8)

This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.

“‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no kind of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, only that may be done by you.

You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day I have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening.

There shall be no yeast found in your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a foreigner, or one who is born in the land.

You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover.

You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.

For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you.

You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever.

It shall happen when you have come to the land which the LORD will give you, as he has promised, that you shall keep this service.

It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’

that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.’” The people bowed their heads and worshiped.

The children of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

At midnight, the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock.

Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

The Exodus Begins

He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said!

Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!”

The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We are all dead men.”

The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.

The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing.

The LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They plundered the Egyptians.

The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, in addition to children.

A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock.

They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn’t wait, and they had not prepared any food for themselves.

Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.

At the end of four hundred thirty years, to the day, all of the LORD’s armies went out from the land of Egypt.

It is a night to be much observed to the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD, to be much observed by all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

Instructions for the Passover

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat of it,

but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.

A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it.

It must be eaten in one house. You shall not carry any of the meat outside of the house. Do not break any of its bones.

All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

When a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, and would like to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it. He shall be as one who is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.”

All the children of Israel did so. As the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

That same day, the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.