The First Passover

12 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ² “This month will be the beginning of months, the first month [^Cin terms of both the calendar and its importance] of the year for you. ³ Tell the whole ·community [congregation; assembly] of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb for [^Leach family, a lamb for] ·the people in his house [^Leach household]. ⁴ 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. ⁵ The lamb must be a one-year-old male that has ·nothing wrong with it [no blemish]. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. ⁶ Take care of the animals until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day all the ·people of the community [assembly of the congregation] of Israel will ·kill [slaughter] them ·in the evening before dark [at twilight]. ⁷ The people must take some of the blood and put it on the ·sides and tops of the doorframes [doorposts and lintels] of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ On this night they must roast the lamb over a fire. They must eat it with bitter herbs and ·bread made without yeast [unleavened bread]. ⁹ Do not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole lamb over a fire—with its head, legs, and inner organs. ¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ “This is the way you must eat it: ·You must be fully dressed as if you were going on a trip [^LWith your loins girded]. You must have your sandals on [^Lyour feet] and your walking stick in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry; this is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “That night I will ·go [cross; pass] through the land of Egypt and ·kill [^Lstrike] all the firstborn animals and [^Lfirstborn] people in the land of Egypt. I will also ·punish [judge; have victory over] all the gods of Egypt [^Cthe spiritual forces (demons) who spiritually empower Egypt]. I am the Lord. ¹³ But the blood will be a sign on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you [^Cthe verb is related to the Hebrew word for Passover]. ·Nothing terrible will hurt [^LNo plague will destroy] you when I ·punish [^Lstrike] the land of Egypt.