The First Passover (Numbers 9:1–14)
1 Brenton And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, BSB BSB: Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
2 Brenton This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it is the first to you among the months of the year. BSB BSB: “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.
3 Brenton Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month let them take each man a lamb according to the houses of their families, every man a lamb for his household. BSB BSB: Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household.
4 Brenton And if they be few in a household, so that there are not enough for the lamb, he shall take with himself his neighbour that lives near to him,—as to the number of souls, every one according to that which suffices him shall make a reckoning for the lamb. BSB BSB: If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly.
5 Brenton It shall be to you a lamb unblemished, a male of a year old: ye shall take it of the lambs and the kids. BSB BSB: Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats.
6 Brenton And it shall be kept by you till the fourteenth of this month, and all the multitude of the congregation of the children of Israel shall kill it toward evening. BSB BSB: You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
7 Brenton And they shall take of the blood, and shall put it on the two door-posts, and on the lintel, in the houses in which soever they shall eat them. BSB BSB: They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.
8 Brenton And they shall eat the flesh in this night roast with fire, and they shall eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs. BSB BSB: They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
9 Brenton Ye shall not eat of it raw nor sodden in water, but only roast with fire, the head with the feet and the appurtenances. BSB BSB: Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts.
10 Brenton Nothing shall be left of it till the morning, and a bone of it ye shall not break; but that which is left of it till the morning ye shall burn with fire. BSB BSB: Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.
11 Brenton And thus shall ye eat it: your loins girded, and your sandals on your feet, and your staves in your hands, and ye shall eat it in haste. It is a passover to the Lord. BSB BSB: This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.
12 Brenton And I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite every first-born in the land of Egypt both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt will I execute vengeance: I am the Lord. BSB BSB: On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
13 Brenton And the blood shall be for a sign to you on the houses in which ye are, and I will see the blood, and will protect you, and there shall not be on you the plague of destruction, when I smite in the land of Egypt. BSB BSB: The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4–8; Numbers 28:16–25; Deuteronomy 16:1–8)
14 Brenton And this day shall be to you a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord through all your generations; ye shall keep it a feast for a perpetual ordinance. BSB BSB: And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
15 Brenton Seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread, and from the first day ye shall utterly remove leaven from your houses: whoever shall eat leaven, that soul shall be utterly destroyed from Israel, from the first day until the seventh day. BSB BSB: For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
16 Brenton And the first day shall be called holy, and the seventh day shall be a holy convocation to you: ye shall do no servile work on them, only as many things as will necessarily be done by every soul, this only shall be done by you. BSB BSB: On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.
17 Brenton And ye shall keep this commandment, for on this day will I bring out your force out of the land of Egypt; and ye shall make this day a perpetual ordinance for you throughout your generations. BSB BSB: So you are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must keep this day as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
18 Brenton Beginning the fourteenth day of the first month, ye shall eat unleavened bread from evening, till the twenty-first day of the month, till evening. BSB BSB: In the first month you are to eat unleavened bread, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.
19 Brenton Seven days leaven shall not be found in your houses; whosoever shall eat anything leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, both among the occupiers of the land and the original inhabitants. BSB BSB: For seven days there must be no leaven found in your houses. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreigner or native of the land, must be cut off from the congregation of Israel.
20 Brenton Ye shall eat nothing leavened, but in every habitation of yours ye shall eat unleavened bread. BSB BSB: You are not to eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.”
21 Brenton And Moses called all the elders of the children of Israel, and said to them, Go away and take to yourselves a lamb according to your kindreds, and slay the passover. BSB BSB: Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb.
22 Brenton And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and having dipped it into some of the blood that is by the door, ye shall touch the lintel, and shall put it upon both door-posts, even of the blood which is by the door; but ye shall not go out every one from the door of his house till the morning. BSB BSB: Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and brush the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out the door of his house until morning.
23 Brenton And the Lord shall pass by to smite the Egyptians, and shall see the blood upon the lintel, and upon both the door-posts; and the Lord shall pass by the door, and shall not suffer the destroyer to enter into your houses to smite you . BSB BSB: When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
24 Brenton And keep ye this thing as an ordinance for thyself and for thy children for ever. BSB BSB: And you are to keep this command as a permanent statute for you and your descendants.
25 Brenton And if ye should enter into the land, which the Lord shall give you, as he has spoken, keep this service. BSB BSB: When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as He promised, you are to keep this service.
26 Brenton And it shall come to pass, if your sons say to you, What is this service? BSB BSB: When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
27 Brenton that ye shall say to them, This passover is a sacrifice to the Lord, as he defended the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, but delivered our houses. BSB BSB: you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.
28 Brenton And the people bowed and worshipped. And the children of Israel departed and did as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. BSB BSB: And the Israelites went and did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn 29 Brenton And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharao that sat on the throne, to the first-born of the captive-maid in the dungeon, and the first-born of all cattle. BSB BSB: Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.
30 Brenton And Pharao rose up by night, and his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in all the land of Egypt, for there was not a house in which there was not one dead. BSB BSB: During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead.
The Exodus Begins 31 Brenton And Pharao called Moses and Aaron by night, and said to them, Rise and depart from my people, both ye and the children of Israel. Go and serve the Lord your God, even as ye say. BSB BSB: Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.
32 Brenton And take with you your sheep, and your oxen: bless me also, I pray you. BSB BSB: Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.”
33 Brenton And the Egyptians constrained the people, so that they cast them out of the land with haste, for they said, We all shall die. BSB BSB: And in order to send them out of the land quickly, the Egyptians urged the people on. “For otherwise,” they said, “we are all going to die!”
34 Brenton And the people took their dough before their meal was leavened, bound up as it was in their garments, on their shoulders. BSB BSB: So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing.
35 Brenton And the children of Israel did as Moses commanded them, and they asked of the Egyptians articles of silver and gold and apparel. BSB BSB: Furthermore, the Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing.
36 Brenton And the Lord gave his people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, and they lent to them; and they spoiled the Egyptians. BSB BSB: And the LORD gave the people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that they granted their request. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.
38 Brenton And a great mixed company went up with them, and sheep and oxen and very much cattle. BSB BSB: And a mixed multitude also went up with them, along with great droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.
39 Brenton And they baked the dough which they brought out of Egypt, unleavened cakes, for it had not been leavened; for the Egyptians cast them out, and they could not remain, neither did they prepare provision for themselves for the journey. BSB BSB: Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.
40 Brenton And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Chanaan, was four hundred and thirty years. BSB BSB: Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.
41 Brenton And it came to pass after the four hundred and thirty years, all the forces of the Lord came forth out of the land of Egypt by night. BSB BSB: At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’s divisions went out of the land of Egypt.
42 Brenton It is a watch kept to the Lord, so that he should bring them out of the land of Egypt; that very night is a watch kept to the Lord, so that it should be to all the children of Israel to their generations. BSB BSB: Because the LORD kept a vigil that night to bring them out of the land of Egypt, this same night is to be a vigil to the LORD, to be observed by all the Israelites for the generations to come.
Instructions for the Passover 43 Brenton And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, This is the law of the passover: no stranger shall eat of it. BSB BSB: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it.
44 Brenton And every slave or servant bought with money—him thou shalt circumcise, and then shall he eat of it. BSB BSB: But any slave who has been purchased may eat of it, after you have circumcised him.
45 Brenton A sojourner or hireling shall not eat of it. BSB BSB: A temporary resident or hired hand shall not eat the Passover.
46 Brenton In one house shall it be eaten, and ye shall not carry of the flesh out from the house; and a bone of it ye shall not break. BSB BSB: It must be eaten inside one house. You are not to take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of the bones.
47 Brenton All the congregation of the children of Israel shall keep it. BSB BSB: The whole congregation of Israel must celebrate it.
48 Brenton And if any proselyte shall come to you to keep the passover to the Lord, thou shalt circumcise every male of him, and then shall he approach to sacrifice it, and he shall be even as the original inhabitant of the land; no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. BSB BSB: If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, all the males in the household must be circumcised; then he may come near to celebrate it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it.
49 Brenton There shall be one law to the native, and to the proselyte coming among you. BSB BSB: The same law shall apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.”
50 Brenton And the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron for them, so they did. BSB BSB: Then all the Israelites did this—they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
51 Brenton And it came to pass in that day that the Lord brought out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt with their forces. BSB BSB: And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.