Exodus 12:26

Contemporary English Version

Your children will ask you, "What are we celebrating?"

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
It will happen, when your children ask you, 'What do you mean by this service?'

King James Version
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

Lexham English Bible
And when your children say to you, ‘What is this religious custom for you?'

New Century Version
When your children ask you, ‘Why are we doing these things?'

New English Translation
When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?'—

Amplified Bible
"When your children say to you, 'What does this service mean to you?'

New American Standard Bible
"And when your children say to you, 'What does this rite mean to you?'

Geneva Bible (1587)
And when your children aske you, What seruice is this ye keepe?

Legacy Standard Bible
And it will be when your children say to you, ‘What is the meaning of this new slavery to you?'

Complete Jewish Bible
When your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this ceremony?'

Darby Translation
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean ye by this service?

Easy-to-Read Version
When your children ask you, ‘Why are we doing this ceremony?'

English Standard Version
And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?'

George Lamsa Translation
And it shall come to pass when your children shall say to you, What is the meaning of this service?

Good News Translation
When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean?'

Christian Standard Bible®
When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’

Literal Translation
And it shall be, when your sons say to you, What is this service to you?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And whan youre children saye vnto you: What seruyce is this, that ye haue?

American Standard Version
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

Bible in Basic English
And when your children say to you, What is the reason of this act of worship?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when your chyldren aske you, what maner of seruice is this ye do?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you: What mean ye by this service?

King James Version (1611)
And it shall come to passe, when your children shall say vnto you, What meane you by this seruice?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it shall come to pass, if your sons say to you, What is this service?

English Revised Version
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

Berean Standard Bible
When your children ask you, 'What does this service mean to you?'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and whanne youre sones schulen seie to you, What is this religioun? ye schulen seie to hem,

Young's Literal Translation
and it hath come to pass when your sons say unto you, What [is] this service ye have?

Update Bible Version
And it shall come to pass, when your sons shall say to you, What do you mean by this service?

Webster's Bible Translation
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean you by this service?

World English Bible
It will happen, when your children ask you, 'What do you mean by this service?'

New King James Version
And it shall be, when your children say to you, "What do you mean by this service?'

New Living Translation
Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?'

New Life Bible
When your children ask you, ‘What does this special time mean to you?'

New Revised Standard
And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and it shall come to pass that your sons shall say unto you, - What is this your service?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when your children shall say to you: What is the meaning of this service?

Revised Standard Version
And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And when your children say to you, 'What does this rite mean to you?'

Contextual Overview

²¹ Moses called the leaders of Israel together and said: Each family is to pick out a sheep and kill it for Passover. ²² Make a brush from a few small branches of a hyssop plant and dip the brush in the bowl that has the blood of the animal in it. Then brush some of the blood above the door and on the posts at each side of the door of your house. After this, everyone is to stay inside. ²³ During that night the Lord will go through the country of Egypt and kill the first-born son in every Egyptian family. He will see where you have put the blood, and he will not come into your house. His angel that brings death will pass over and not kill your first-born sons. ²⁴After you have entered the country promised to you by the Lord , you and your children must continue to celebrate Passover each year. ²⁶ Your children will ask you, "What are we celebrating?" ²⁷ And you will answer, "The Passover animal is killed to honor the Lord . We do these things because on that night long ago the Lord passed over the homes of our people in Egypt. He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians, but he saved our children from death." After Moses finished speaking, the people of Israel knelt down and worshiped the Lord . ²⁸ Then they left and did what Moses and Aaron had told them to do.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

your children: Exodus 13:8, Exodus 13:9, Exodus 13:14, Exodus 13:15, Exodus 13:22, Deuteronomy 6:7, Deuteronomy 11:19, Deuteronomy 32:7, Joshua 4:6, Joshua 4:7, Joshua 4:21-24, Psalms 78:3-6, Psalms 145:4, Isaiah 38:19, Ephesians 6:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 21:29 - General Exodus 13:5 - thou shalt keep Deuteronomy 6:20 - when thy son Deuteronomy 16:3 - mayest Psalms 111:4 - He hath Ezekiel 17:12 - Know

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, what mean ye by this service?] Of killing and roasting a lamb, and eating it with bitter herbs, and of abstaining from leavened bread.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 12:26. What mean ye by this service? — The establishment of this service annually was a very wise provision to keep up in remembrance this wonderful deliverance. From the remotest antiquity the institution of feasts, games, c., has been used to keep up the memory of past grand events. Hence God instituted the Sabbath, to keep up the remembrance of the creation and the passover to keep up the remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt. All the other feasts were instituted on similar reasons. The Jews never took their sons to the tabernacle or temple till they were twelve years of age, nor suffered them to eat of the flesh of any victim till they had themselves offered a sacrifice at the temple, which they were not permitted to do before the twelfth year of their age. It was at this age that Joseph and Mary took our blessed Lord to the temple, probably for the first time, to offer his sacrifice. See Calmet.