Exodus 12:1

THE MESSAGE

God said to Moses and Aaron while still in Egypt, "This month is to be the first month of the year for you. Address the whole community of Israel; tell them that on the tenth of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one lamb to a house. If the family is too small for a lamb, then share it with a close neighbor, depending on the number of persons involved. Be mindful of how much each person will eat. Your lamb must be a healthy male, one year old; you can select it from either the sheep or the goats. Keep it penned until the fourteenth day of this month and then slaughter it—the entire community of Israel will do this—at dusk. Then take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which you will eat it. You are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire, that night, along with bread, made without yeast, and bitter herbs. Don't eat any of it raw or boiled in water; make sure it's roasted—the whole animal, head, legs, and innards. Don't leave any of it until morning; if there are leftovers, burn them in the fire.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Mitzrayim, saying,

King James Version
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,

Lexham English Bible
And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

New Century Version
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

New English Translation
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

Amplified Bible
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

New American Standard Bible
Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
Now Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

Contemporary English Version
Some time later the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt; he said,

Darby Translation
And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Easy-to-Read Version
While Moses and Aaron were still in Egypt, the Lord spoke to them. He said,

English Standard Version
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

George Lamsa Translation
THEN the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Good News Translation
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Egypt:

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

Literal Translation
And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The LORDE sayde vnto Moses & Aaron in the londe of Egipte:

American Standard Version
And Jehovah spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Bible in Basic English
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lorde spake vnto Moyses and Aaron in the lande of Egypt, saying:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying:

King James Version (1611)
And the Lord spake vnto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

English Revised Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Berean Standard Bible
Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Also the Lord seide to Moises and Aaron in the lond of Egipt,

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, in the land of Egypt, saying,

Update Bible Version
And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

World English Bible
Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

New King James Version
Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

New Living Translation
While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron:

New Life Bible
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

New Revised Standard
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then spake Yahweh, unto Moses and unto Aaron, in the land of Egypt saying -

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

Revised Standard Version
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

Contextual Overview

¹ God said to Moses and Aaron while still in Egypt, "This month is to be the first month of the year for you. Address the whole community of Israel; tell them that on the tenth of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one lamb to a house. If the family is too small for a lamb, then share it with a close neighbor, depending on the number of persons involved. Be mindful of how much each person will eat. Your lamb must be a healthy male, one year old; you can select it from either the sheep or the goats. Keep it penned until the fourteenth day of this month and then slaughter it—the entire community of Israel will do this—at dusk. Then take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which you will eat it. You are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire, that night, along with bread, made without yeast, and bitter herbs. Don't eat any of it raw or boiled in water; make sure it's roasted—the whole animal, head, legs, and innards. Don't leave any of it until morning; if there are leftovers, burn them in the fire. ¹¹ "And here is how you are to eat it: Be fully dressed with your sandals on and your stick in your hand. Eat in a hurry; it's the Passover to God . ¹²"I will go through the land of Egypt on this night and strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, whether human or animal, and bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am God . The blood will serve as a sign on the houses where you live. When I see the blood I will pass over you—no disaster will touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. ¹⁴"This will be a memorial day for you; you will celebrate it as a festival to God down through the generations, a fixed festival celebration to be observed always. You will eat unraised bread (matzoth) for seven days: On the first day get rid of all yeast from your houses—anyone who eats anything with yeast from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off from Israel. The first and the seventh days are set aside as holy; do no work on those days. Only what you have to do for meals; each person can do that. ¹⁷"Keep the Festival of Unraised Bread! This marks the exact day I brought you out in force from the land of Egypt. Honor the day down through your generations, a fixed festival to be observed always. In the first month, beginning on the fourteenth day at evening until the twenty-first day at evening, you are to eat unraised bread. For those seven days not a trace of yeast is to be found in your houses. Anyone, whether a visitor or a native of the land, who eats anything raised shall be cut off from the community of Israel. Don't eat anything raised. Only matzoth."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Genesis 20:7 - a prophet Exodus 11:2 - borrow Exodus 12:18 - General Exodus 14:1 - the Lord spake Exodus 40:2 - the first month Numbers 9:2 - keep Ezekiel 45:21 - ye shall

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
I'll make you a great nation and bless you. I'll make you famous; you'll be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I'll curse. All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you."

Genesis 12:10
Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, "Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they're going to say, ‘Aha! That's his wife!' and kill me. But they'll let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you're my sister. Because of you, they'll welcome me and let me live."

Genesis 15:7
God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."

Nehemiah 9:7
You're the one, God , the God who chose Abram And brought him from Ur of the Chaldees and changed his name to Abraham. You found his heart to be steady and true to you and signed a covenant with him, A covenant to give him the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, The Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites, —to give it to his descendants. And you kept your word because you are righteous.

Hebrews 11:8
By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,.... Before they and the children of Israel came out of it, before the slaying of the firstborn, yea, before Moses came from the presence of Pharaoh, and had given him notice of it; and it is very probable even before the three days darkness, seeing it seems necessary it should be four days before the passover, since on the tenth day the lamb was to be taken, and on the fourteenth slain, Exodus 12:3 and by what follows it looks as if it was at the beginning or first day of the month, and so the words may be rendered, "the Lord had spoke" y; and the following account is deferred to this place, that there might be no interruption of the history of the plagues, and that the passover, with all its rites and ceremonies, both at the first institution and observance of it, and in later times, might be laid together.

y ויאמר "alloquutus antem fuerat", Junius Tremellius, Piscator "dixerat autem"; so some in Drusius, and Ainsworth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This chapter was written some time after the Exodus, probably when Moses put together the portions of the book toward the end of his life. The statements that these instructions were given in the land of Egypt, and that they were given to Moses and Aaron, are important: the one marks the special dignity of this ordinance, which was established before the Sinaitic code; the other marks the distinction between Moses and Aaron and all other prophets. They alone were prophets of the law, i. e. no law was promulgated by any other prophets.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XII

The month Abib is to be considered as the commencement of

the year, 1, 2.

The PASSOVER instituted; the lamb or kid to be used on the

occasion to be taken from the flock the tenth day of the

month, and each family to provide one, 3, 4.

The lamb or kid to be a male of the first year without

blemish, 5.

To be killed on the fourteenth day, 6,

and the blood to be sprinkled on the side posts and lintels

of the doors, 7.

The flesh to be prepared by roasting, and not to be eaten

either sodden or raw, 8, 9;

and no part of it to be left till the morning, 10.

The people to eat it with their loins girded, c., as persons

prepared for a journey, 11.

Why called the PASSOVER, 12.

The blood sprinkled on the door posts, &c., to be a token to

them of preservation from the destroying angel, 13.

The fourteenth day of the month Abib to be a feast for ever,

14.

Unleavened bread to be eaten seven days, 15.

This also to be observed in all their generations for ever, 17-20.

Moses instructs the elders of Israel how they are to offer

the lamb and sprinkle his blood, and for what purpose, 21-23.

He binds them to instruct their children in the nature of

this rite, 24-27.

The children of Israel act as commanded, 28.

All the first-born of Egypt slain, 29, 30.

Pharaoh and the Egyptians urge Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites

to depart, 31-33.

They prepare for their departure, and get gold, silver, and

raiment from the Egyptians, 34-36.

They journey from Rameses to Succoth, in number six hundred

thousand men, besides women and children, and a mixed multitude,

37, 38.

They bake unleavened cakes of the dough they brought with them

out of Egypt, 39.

The time in which they sojourned in Egypt, 40-42.

Different ordinances concerning the PASSOVER, 43-49

which are all punctually observed by the people, who are brought

out of Egypt the same day, 50, 51.

NOTES ON CHAP. XII