~ Passover and Exodus ~

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,
"This month is to be for you the first month,
the first month of your year.
Tell the whole community of Israel
that on the tenth day of this month
each man is to take a lamb for his family,
one for each household.

. . . "Take care of them
until the fourteenth day of the month,
when all the people of the community of Israel
must slaughter them at twilight.
Then they are to take some of the blood
and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames
of the houses where they eat the lambs.
That same night
they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire,
along with bitter herbs,
and bread made without yeast.

. . . "On that same night
I will pass through Egypt
and strike down every firstborn --
both men and animals --
and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt.
I am the Lord.
The blood will be a sign for you
on the houses where you are;
and when I see the blood,
I will pass over you.
No destructive plague will touch you
when I strike Egypt."

Now the length of time
the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years.
At the end of the 430 years, to the very day,
all the Lord's divisions left Egypt.
Because the Lord kept vigil that night
to bring them out of Egypt,
on this night
all the Israelites are to keep vigil
to honor the Lord for generations to come.

(Exodus12:1-3, 6-8, 12-13, 40-42)