Study Desk

You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children.

you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord , for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed down and worshiped.

Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

The Egyptians urged the people to hasten their departure from the land, for they said, "We shall all be dead."

The Israelites had done as Moses told them; they had asked the Egyptians for jewelry of silver and gold, and for clothing,

They baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt; it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

That was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. That same night is a vigil to be kept for the Lord by all the Israelites throughout their generations.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the ordinance for the passover: no foreigner shall eat of it,

there shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.

Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory.

You shall tell your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.'

It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the Lord may be on your lips; for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, "If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt."

So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle.

I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord . And they did so.

Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."

But Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again.

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still."

Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord , when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers."