Exodus

God said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, whether human or animal.” Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, the land he swore to your ancestors to give to you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you are to observe this ceremony in this month. For seven days, eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day, hold a festival

The origin of Passover The Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years. At the end of 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. Because God kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night, all Israelites are instructed to keep vigil to honor God for the generations to come. God told Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal. No foreigner may eat it. Any slave you have brought may eat it if they have been circumcised. A temporary resident or hired worker may not eat it.The meal must be eaten inside the house – take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. The whole community of Israel must

As he had warned he would do, at midnight, God struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, including Pharaoh’s firstborn son and the firstborn of all livestock as well. Pharaoh and his officials rose in the middle of the night to hear great wailing throughout Egypt for there was not a single home without someone dead. Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites, go! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds – and also, bless me.” The Egyptians urged the Israelites to leave the country as quickly as possible “for otherwise, we will die!” The Israelites took their dough before the yeast was added and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in

God told Moses and Aaron: “This month is to be the first month of your year. Tell all of Israel on the tenth day of this month, each is to take a lamb, one for each household. If a house is too small for a whole lamb, they must share with their neighbor. The animals you choose must be one-year-old males, without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month when all members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. They are to take blood from the slaughter and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses inside of which, they are to eat

God said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and his people. After that, he will let you go from here and when he does, he will drive you out completely. Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” God made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the Israelites and Moses himself was highly regarded by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people. So Moses told Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight, I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave who sits at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of

After the devastating plague of locusts, God said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt – darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship your god. Even your women and children may go with you. Only leave your flocks and herds behind.” But Moses said, “You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the Lord our God. Our livestock must go with us, not a hoof is to be left behind.

God said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs before them so you can tell your children and grandchildren how I performed signs and miracles and made fools of the Egyptians so they would know that I am the Lord.” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the God of the Hebrews says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have

God told Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: Let my people go so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the

  After the plague of livestock devastated the land of Egypt but left the Israelites’ animals untouched, Pharaoh began to recognize the immense power of God. Yet he remained stubborn and refused to release the Israelites from bondage. God said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.” So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air and festering boils broke out on people and animals. The magicians could not stand before Pharaoh because of the boils that were on

After the plague of gnats, Pharaoh went back on his word and would not release the Israelites from bondage. God told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of God will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field – on your horses, donkeys, camels, sheep, and goats. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’” God set a time, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” The next