Deuteronomy 16:1-4

Contemporary English Version

Passover

(Exodus 12.1-20; Leviticus 23.4-8)

Moses said:

16 ^(A) People of Israel, you must celebrate Passover in the month of Abib,^[a] because one night in that month years ago, the Lord your God rescued you from Egypt. ²The Passover sacrifice must be a cow, a sheep, or a goat, and you must offer it at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. ^3-4Eat all of the meat of the Passover sacrifice that same night. But don't serve bread made with yeast at the Passover meal. Serve the same kind of thin bread that you ate when you were slaves suffering in Egypt^[b] and when you had to leave Egypt quickly. As long as you live, this thin bread will remind you of the day you left Egypt.

For seven days following Passover,^[c] don't make any bread with yeast. In fact, there should be no yeast anywhere in Israel.

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Footnotes

16.1 in the month of Abib: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April. Passover was celebrated on the evening of the fourteenth of Abib (see Exodus 12.6; Leviticus 23.4,5).
16.3,4 the same kind … in Egypt: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
16.3,4 seven days following Passover: This period was called the Festival of Thin Bread (see also verse 16).