The Eternal One said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:  This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.  Speak to the whole community of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household. 

But if the household is too small for a lamb, let it share one with a neighbor who dwells nearby, in proportion to the number of persons:  you shall contribute for the lamb according to what each household will eat.  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.  You shall keep watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter it at twilight. 

They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it.  They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.  Do not eat any of it raw, or cooked in any way with water, but roasted—head, legs, and entrails, over the fire.  You shall not leave any of it over until morning; if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it. 

This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a Passover offering to the Eternal.  For that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, both human and beast; and I will mete out punishments to all the gods of Egypt, I the Eternal.  And the blood on the houses where you are staying shall be a sign for you:  when I see the blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.  This day shall be to you one of remembrance:  you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Eternal throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time.

“You shall observe this as an institution for all time, for you and for your descendants.  And when you enter the land that the Eternal will give you, as promised, you shall observe this rite.  And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this rite?’ you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Eternal, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when smiting the Egyptians, but saved our houses.’”

A word:

It is perhaps impossible for someone who has only known slavery to understand the promise of freedom.  How has the anticipation of an event in your life been different than the reality?  How is the memory different?

Share Your Thoughts

We invite you to share your own response to this reading.  You can do so via a special "omerproject" email address or by dropping it in the box in the Temple lobby.