Exodus 11:1-15:21

New King James Version

Death of the Firstborn Announced^(A)

11 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. ^(B)Afterward he will let you go from here. ^(C)When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, ^(D)articles of silver and articles of gold.” ^3 (E)And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man ^(F)Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴ Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ^(G)‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; ⁵ and ^(H)all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. ^6 (I)Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, ^(J)such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. ^7 (K)But against none of the children of Israel ^(L)shall a dog ^[a]move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’ ⁸ And ^(M)all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” ^(N)Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

⁹ But the Lord said to Moses, ^(O)“Pharaoh will not heed you, so that ^(P)My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; ^(Q)and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover Instituted^(R)

12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ^2 (S)“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the ^(T)tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ⁴ And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be ^(U)without^[b] blemish, a male ^[c]of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ Now you shall keep it until the ^(V)fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. ⁷ And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. ⁸ Then they shall eat the flesh on that ^(W)night; ^(X)roasted in fire, with ^(Y)unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but ^(Z)roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. ^10 (AA)You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹ And thus you shall eat it: ^[d]with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. ^(AB)It is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² ‘For I ^(AC)will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and ^(AD)against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: ^(AE)I am the Lord. ¹³ Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ ‘So this day shall be to you ^(AF)a memorial; and you shall keep it as a ^(AG)feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast ^(AH)by an everlasting ordinance. ^15 (AI)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, ^(AJ)that ^[e]person shall be ^[f]cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day there shall be ^(AK)a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. ¹⁷ So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for ^(AL)on this same day I will have brought your ^[g]armies ^(AM)out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. ^18 (AN)In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ For ^(AO)seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”

²¹ Then ^(AP)Moses called for all the ^(AQ)elders of Israel and said to them, ^(AR)“Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. ^22 (AS)And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and ^(AT)strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. ^23 (AU)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the ^(AV)blood on the ^[h]lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^(AW)not allow ^(AX)the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. ²⁴ And you shall ^(AY)observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. ²⁵ It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, ^(AZ)just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. ^26 (BA)And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ^(BB)‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people ^(BC)bowed their heads and worshiped. ²⁸ Then the children of Israel went away and ^(BD)did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn^(BE)

^29 (BF)And it came to pass at midnight that ^(BG)the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was ^[i]in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of ^(BH)livestock. ³⁰ So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

The Exodus

³¹ Then he ^(BI)called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, ^(BJ)both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have ^(BK)said. ^32 (BL)Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”

^33 (BM)And the Egyptians ^(BN)urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. ³⁵ Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians ^(BO)articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. ^36 (BP)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus ^(BQ)they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ Then ^(BR)the children of Israel journeyed from ^(BS)Rameses to Succoth, about ^(BT)six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. ³⁸ A ^(BU)mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of ^(BV)livestock. ³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because ^(BW)they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰ Now the ^[j]sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in ^[k]Egypt was ^(BX)four hundred and thirty years. ⁴¹ And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that ^(BY)all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It is ^(BZ)a ^[l]night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

Passover Regulations^(CA)

⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is ^(CB)the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. ⁴⁴ But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have ^(CC)circumcised him, then he may eat it. ^45 (CD)A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. ⁴⁶ In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, ^(CE)nor shall you break one of its bones. ^47 (CF)All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ And ^(CG)when a stranger ^[m]dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. ^49 (CH)One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”

⁵⁰ Thus all the children of Israel did; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ^51 (CI)And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ^(CJ)according to their armies.

The Firstborn Consecrated

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (CK)“Consecrate^[n] to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread^(CL)

³ And Moses said to the people: ^(CM)“Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of ^[o]bondage; for ^(CN)by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. ^(CO)No leavened bread shall be eaten. ^4 (CP)On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. ⁵ And it shall be, when the Lord ^(CQ)brings you into the ^(CR)land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He ^(CS)swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, ^(CT)that you shall keep this service in this month. ^6 (CU)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. ⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And ^(CV)no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. ⁸ And you shall ^(CW)tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ ⁹ It shall be as ^(CX)a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. ^10 (CY)You shall therefore keep this ^[p]ordinance in its season from year to year.

The Law of the Firstborn

¹¹ “And it shall be, when the Lord ^(CZ)brings you into the land of the ^(DA)Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, ^12 (DB)that you shall ^[q]set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lord’s. ¹³ But ^(DC)every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons ^(DD)you shall redeem. ^14 (DE)So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ^(DF)‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that ^(DG)the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be as ^(DH)a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

The Wilderness Way^(DI)

¹⁷ Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people ^(DJ)change their minds when they see war, and ^(DK)return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God ^(DL)led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁹ And Moses took the ^(DM)bones of ^(DN)Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, ^(DO)“God will surely ^[r]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

²⁰ So ^(DP)they took their journey from ^(DQ)Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ And ^(DR)the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. ²² He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

The Red Sea Crossing

14 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to the children of Israel, ^(DS)that they turn and camp before ^(DT)Pi Hahiroth, between ^(DU)Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. ³ For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ^(DV)‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ ⁴ Then ^(DW)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I ^(DX)will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, ^(DY)that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

⁵ Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and ^(DZ)the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ So he ^[s]made ready his chariot and took his people with him. ⁷ Also, he took ^(EA)six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. ⁸ And the Lord ^(EB)hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and ^(EC)the children of Israel went out with boldness. ⁹ So the ^(ED)Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel ^(EE)cried out to the Lord. ^11 (EF)Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? ^12 (EG)Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

¹³ And Moses said to the people, ^(EH)“Do not be afraid. ^(EI)Stand still, and see the ^(EJ)salvation^[t] of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall ^(EK)see again no more forever. ^14 (EL)The Lord will fight for you, and you shall ^(EM)hold^[u] your peace.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. ¹⁶ But ^(EN)lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ¹⁷ And I indeed will ^(EO)harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will ^(EP)gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

¹⁹ And the Angel of God, ^(EQ)who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. ²⁰ So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and ^(ER)made the sea into dry land, and the waters were ^(ES)divided. ²² So ^(ET)the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were ^(EU)a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

²⁴ Now it came to pass, in the morning ^(EV)watch, that ^(EW)the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He ^[v]troubled the army of the Egyptians. ²⁵ And He ^[w]took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord ^(EX)fights for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea ^(EY)returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord ^(EZ)overthrew^[x] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ²⁸ Then ^(FA)the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. ²⁹ But ^(FB)the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰ So the Lord ^(FC)saved^[y] Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel ^(FD)saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Thus Israel saw the great ^[z]work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and ^(FE)believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

The Song of Moses^(FF)

15 Then ^(FG)Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying:

¹⁹ For the ^(GU)horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and ^(GV)the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

The Song of Miriam^(GW)

²⁰ Then Miriam ^(GX)the prophetess, ^(GY)the sister of Aaron, ^(GZ)took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her ^(HA)with timbrels and with dances. ²¹ And Miriam ^(HB)answered them: