₁The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Egypt: ₂“This month is to be the first month of the year for you. ₃Give these instructions to the whole community of Israel: on the tenth day of this month each man must choose either a lamb or a young goat for his household. ₄If his family is too small to eat a whole animal, he and his next-door neighbour may share an animal, in proportion to the number of people and the amount that each person can eat.

₅You may choose either a sheep or a goat, but it must be a one-year-old male without any defects. ₆Then, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, the whole community of Israel will kill the animals. ₇The people are to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and above the doors of the houses in which the animals are to be eaten. ₈That night the meat is to be roasted, and eaten with bitter herbs and with bread made without yeast. ₉Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, but eat it roasted whole, including the head, the legs, and the internal organs. ₁₀You must not leave any of it until morning; if any is left over, it must be burnt.

₁₁You are to eat it quickly, for you are to be dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your stick in your hand. It is the Passover Festival to honour me, the LORD.

₁₂“On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every firstborn male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. ₁₃The blood on the doorposts will be a sign to mark the houses in which you live. When I see the blood, I will pass over you and will not harm you when I punish the Egyptians. ₁₄You must celebrate this day as a religious festival to remind you of what I, the LORD, have done. Celebrate it for all time to come.”