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The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
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“This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of the year for you.
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Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth day of this month each man shall take for himself a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for each household.
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But if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor to his house shall take one, according to the number of persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb.
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Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
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You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
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And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
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They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted with fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
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Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs and its inner parts.
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You shall let none of it remain until morning; what remains until morning you shall burn with fire.
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And this is how you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.
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For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am the LORD.
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The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague of destruction shall be among you when I strike the land of Egypt.
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This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; as a statute forever you shall keep it.
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Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats anything leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
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On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly; on those days no work shall be done. Only what everyone must eat, that alone may be prepared by you.
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So you shall keep the feast of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations; it is a statute forever.
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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.
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For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, for whoever eats anything leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or one born in the land.
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You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”
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Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, take lambs for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb.
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Then you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply the blood to the lintel and to the two doorposts; none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.
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For the LORD will pass through Egypt to strike it; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
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You shall keep this as a statute for you and for your children forever.
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And when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, as He has spoken, you shall keep this service.
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And when your children say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
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then you shall say, ‘It 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 houses.'” Then the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
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So the Israelites went and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
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And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock.
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Then 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 no house where there was not one dead.
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Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Rise up, go out from among my people, both you and the Israelites; go, serve the LORD, as you have said.
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Bring also your flocks and your herds, as you have said; and go! And bless me also.”
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The Egyptians also urged the people strongly, to send them out of the land quickly, for they said, “We shall all die.”
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So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.
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The Israelites did as Moses had said; they asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing.
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And the LORD gave the Egyptians favor toward the people, so that they granted their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
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Then the Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.
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A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very many flocks and herds.
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And they baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
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Now the time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.
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And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
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It was a night of watching for the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is a night of watching for all the Israelites throughout their generations, for the glory of the LORD.
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The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it.
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But every slave bought with money may eat of it after you have circumcised him.
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A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat of it.
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It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not carry any of the meat outside the house, and you shall not break any bone of it.
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All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
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And if a stranger sojourns with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let every male among him be circumcised; then he may come near to keep it; he shall be as one born in the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
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There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
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All the Israelites did so; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
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And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, according to their divisions.
🐑🩸🚪 Summary of Exodus 12
Exodus 12 is the climax of the tenth plague: the death of Egypt’s firstborn, as well as the institution of the first Passover and the departure of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery after 430 years.
1. The command concerning Passover (verses 1–30)
- The Lord appointed the month of Israel’s departure (the month of Abib/Nisan) as the beginning of the year.
- Each family was to choose a male lamb without blemish, to be slaughtered on the fourteenth day.
- The blood of the lamb was to be put on the doorposts of the house, as a sign so that the angel of the Lord would pass over that house (this is the meaning of the word Passover = pass over).
- Its meat was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, remembering their suffering and the swiftness of their departure.
- The Lord commanded that this feast be kept throughout all generations, as a remembrance of deliverance from Egypt.
- When night came, the Lord struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, including Pharaoh’s firstborn and even the livestock.
- There was no death in the houses of the Israelites that were protected by the blood of the lamb.
2. The exodus from Egypt (verses 31–51)
- Pharaoh finally yielded and ordered Israel to go, together with their livestock and possessions.
- The Egyptians gave articles of gold, silver, and clothing, causing Israel to go out in abundance.
- About 600,000 men, not including women and children, set out from Rameses to Succoth.
- They carried dough for unleavened bread, because there had not been time for it to rise.
- The time the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years.
- The Lord commanded that Passover may be kept only by one who is circumcised, signifying a special covenant with the Lord.
📖 Main Teachings
- Salvation comes only through the blood appointed by God.
- Full obedience to the Lord’s command brings protection.
- Passover is a symbol of the redemption and deliverance of God’s people.
- The Lord keeps His promise on time; not a single thing is delayed.
- God’s judgment is just: He passes over the house sheltered by the blood, and judges those who reject the warning.
✨ Spiritual Meaning
- The Passover lamb becomes a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
- The blood on the doorpost portrays faith and protection within God’s covenant—a sign that saves from the Lord’s wrath.
- Unleavened bread and bitter herbs teach that salvation involves separation from wickedness and remembrance of suffering.
- The Lord turns a night of fear into a night of deliverance, affirming that every crisis can become a turning point for a miracle.
