118-119 : The Night Of The Passover
MOSES came before the hearing of the people to tell them the words of the Lord:"'About midnight I will go out into Egypt, and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die,
from the first-born child of Pharaoh upon his throne,
to the first-born of the maidservant at the mill, and all the first-born of cattle.
And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was never heard before and shall never be again.
"But none of the children of Israel shall suffer in any way, neither they nor their animals.
Thus you shall see how the Lord has put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel."'
Moses called for all the elders of Israel and spoke to them,
in accordance with the command of the Lord,
saying:"Take a lamb from your flocks,according to the size of your families,and kill it.
Take a bunch of herbs and dip it in the blood that is in the basin,
and strike with the blood the top and the two side posts of the doorways of your houses.
And none of you shall go out of his house until morning.
"You shall roast the lamb and shall eat the meat with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.
When you eat it you shall be ready to depart,
with your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand.
And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's passover.
"For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians,
and when he sees the blood upon the doortop and on the two side posts,
the Lord will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.
"And you shall observe this thing as a covenant with God for you and for your sons forever.
It shall come to pass, when you come to the land which the Lord will give to you,
according to his promise, that you shall keep this service.
And when your children say, 'What do you mean by this service?' you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover,
for he passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he struck down the Egyptians, and he saved all our families."'
The people bowed their heads and worshipped.
Then the children of Israel went away and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
from the first-born child of Pharaoh on his throne to the first-born of the captive in the dungeon,
and all the first-born of cattle.
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 someone was not dead.
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said: "Rise up and get out from among my people, both you and all the children of Israel.
And go worship the Lord as you have asked.
And take your flocks and your herds, as you asked, and be gone."
And the Egyptians urged the people, and tried to send them out of the land in haste,
for they said, "We are all dead men."
So the people took their dough before it was raised,
and bound their kneading boards up in their clothes bundles on their shoulders.
And the people of Israel departed and journeyed from Rameses to Succoth.
There were about six hundred thousand of them on foot, not counting the children,
and there also went with them many other people, and large flocks and herds of cattle.
The night they went out of Egypt,
the children of Israel had been living in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years.
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