Passover

The Passover is the feast commemorating God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, when the LORD passed over the houses marked with the blood of the lamb. Jesus ate the Passover with his disciples on the night before his death, and Christ is called our Passover, sacrificed for us.

The first Passover

• Exodus 12:1-13
  ¹And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ²This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.“This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year. ³Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household. ⁴And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly. ⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats. ⁶And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. ⁷And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts. ¹⁰And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over. ¹¹And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. ¹²For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. ¹³And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
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• Exodus 12:21-28
  ²¹Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²²And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and brush the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. ²³For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. ²⁴And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.And you are to keep this command as a permanent statute for you and your descendants. ²⁵And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as He promised, you are to keep this service. ²⁶And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ ²⁷That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. ²⁸And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.And the Israelites went and did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
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• Exodus 12:29-32
  ²⁹And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock. ³⁰And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and 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.During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead. ³¹And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. ³²Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.”
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A feast to keep forever

• Exodus 12:14
  And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
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• Leviticus 23:4-8
  ⁴These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. ⁵In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover.The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. ⁶And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. ⁷In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work. ⁸But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.For seven days you are to present an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”
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• Deuteronomy 16:1-3
  ¹Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ²Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there.You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name. ³Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.
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Kept in Israel's history

• Joshua 5:10
  And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover.
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• 2 Kings 23:21-23
  ²¹And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²²Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah. ²³But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.But in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.
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• 2 Chronicles 30:1
  And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel.Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.
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Jesus and the Passover

• Luke 2:41-42
  ⁴¹Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Feast.
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• Luke 22:7-8
  ⁷Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed. ⁸And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare for us to eat the Passover.”
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• Luke 22:14-20
  ¹⁴And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.When the hour had come, Jesus reclined at the table with His apostles. ¹⁵And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering. ¹⁶For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.For I tell you that I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves. ¹⁸For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.For I tell you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁰Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.
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• John 19:36
  For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
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Christ our Passover

• 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
  ⁷Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.
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• John 1:29
  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
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• 1 Peter 1:18-19
  ¹⁸Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.
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See also

• Lamb of God
• Lord's Supper
• Moses
• Redemption
• Atonement

Notes

1. Verses are quoted in the translation chosen in the Translation menu at the top of the page. See Translations for sources and copyright notices.
2. Each reference links to the full chapter so the verse can be read in context.