Exodus 12:1-16

The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: “This month will be the beginning of months, the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb for the people in his house. If there are not enough people in his house to eat a whole lamb, he must share it with his closest neighbor, considering the number of people. There must be enough lamb for everyone to eat. The lamb must be a one-year-old male that has nothing wrong with it. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. Take care of the animals until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day all the people of the community of Israel will kill them in the evening before dark. The people must take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. On this night they must roast the lamb over a fire. They must eat it with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole lamb over a fire—with its head, legs, and inner organs. You must not leave any of it until morning, but if any of it is left over until morning, you must burn it with fire. “This is the way you must eat it: You must be fully dressed as if you were going on a trip. You must have your sandals on and your walking stick in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry; this is the LORD’s Passover. “That night I will go through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn animals and people in the land of Egypt. I will also punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. But the blood will be a sign on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing terrible will hurt you when I punish the land of Egypt. “You are always to remember this day and celebrate it with a feast to the LORD. Your descendants are to honor the LORD with this feast from now on. For this feast you must eat bread made without yeast for seven days. On the first day, you are to remove all the yeast from your houses. No one should eat any yeast for the full seven days of the feast, or that person will be cut off from Israel. You are to have holy meetings on the first and last days of the feast. You must not do any work on these days; the only work you may do is to prepare your meals.