Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 115
12:40–13:7
E x od u s
103
were driven out of Egypt in such a hurry that they had no time to prepare
the bread or other food.
The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. In fact, it was on the
last day of the 430th year that all the Lord’s forces left the land. On this
night the Lord kept his promise to bring his people out of the land of
Egypt. So this night belongs to him, and it must be commemorated every
year by all the Israelites, from generation to generation.
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the instructions
for the festival of Passover. No outsiders are allowed to eat the Passover
meal. But any slave who has been purchased may eat it if he has been circumcised. Temporary residents and hired servants may not eat it. Each
Passover lamb must be eaten in one house. Do not carry any of its meat
outside, and do not break any of its bones. The whole community of Israel
must celebrate this Passover festival.
“If there are foreigners living among you who want to celebrate the
Lord’s Passover, let all their males be circumcised. Only then may they
celebrate the Passover with you like any n ative-born Israelite. But no uncircumcised male may ever eat the Passover meal. This instruction applies to everyone, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner living
among you.”
So all the people of Israel followed all the Lord’s commands to Moses
and Aaron. On that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of
the land of Egypt like an army.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Dedicate to me every firstborn among
the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals,
belongs to me.”
So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the
day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the Lord has brought
you out by the power of his mighty hand. (Remember, eat no food containing yeast.) On this day in early spring, in the month of Abib, you have
been set free. You must celebrate this event in this month each year after
the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,
Hivites, and Jebusites. (He swore to your ancestors that he would give you
this land—a land flowing with milk and honey.) For seven days the bread
you eat must be made without yeast. Then on the seventh day, celebrate a
feast to the Lord. Eat bread without yeast during those seven days. In fact,
there must be no yeast bread or any yeast at all found within the borders
of your land during this time.
