Parashat Bo 5784 / פָּרָשַׁת בֹּא

(4) Moses said, “Thus says יהוה: Toward midnight I will go forth among the Egyptians, (5) and every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the first-born of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; and all the first-born of the cattle. (6) And there shall be a loud cry in all the land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again; (7) but not a dog shall snarl at any of the Israelites, at human or beast—in order that you may know that יהוה makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. (8) “Then all these courtiers of yours shall come down to me and bow low to me, saying, ‘Depart, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will depart.” And he left Pharaoh’s presence in hot anger. (9) Now יהוה had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, in order that My marvels may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” (10) Moses and Aaron had performed all these marvels before Pharaoh, but יהוה had stiffened the heart of Pharaoh so that he would not let the Israelites go from his land.

(1) יהוה said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: (2) This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you. (3) Speak to the community leadership 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. (4) 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. (5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. (6) 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. (7) 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. (8) They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. (9) Do not eat any of it raw, or cooked in any way with water, but roasted—head, legs, and entrails—over the fire. (10) You shall not leave any of it over until morning; if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it.

(11) 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 יהוה. (12) 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 יהוה. (13) 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.

(14) This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to יהוה throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time. (15) Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the very first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. (16) You shall celebrate a sacred occasion on the first day, and a sacred occasion on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them; only what every person is to eat, that alone may be prepared for you.

(17) You shall observe the [Feast of] Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your ranks out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day throughout the ages as an institution for all time. (18) In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. (19) No leaven shall be found in your houses for seven days. For whoever eats what is leavened, that person—whether a stranger or a citizen of the country—shall be cut off from the community of Israel. (20) You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread.

(21) Moses then summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, pick out lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover offering. (22) Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and to the two doorposts. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. (23) For יהוה, when going through to smite the Egyptians, will see the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, and יהוה will pass over the door and not let the Destroyer enter and smite your home. (24) “You shall observe this as an institution for all time, for you and for your descendants.

(25) And when you enter the land that יהוה will give you, as promised, you shall observe this rite. (26) And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this rite?’ (27) you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to יהוה, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when smiting the Egyptians, but saved our houses.’ Those assembled then bowed low in homage. (28) And the Israelites went and did so; just as יהוה had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

(13) The word that GOD spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt: (14) Declare in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol,Proclaim in Noph and Tahpanhes!Say: Take your posts and stand ready,For the sword has devoured all around you! (15) Why are your stalwarts swept away?They did not stand firm,For GOD thrust them down; (16) Many were made to stumble,They fell over one another.They said:“Up! let us return to our people,To the land of our birth,Because of the deadly sword.” (17) There they called Pharaoh king of Egypt:“Braggart who let the hour go by.” (18) As I live—declares the King, Whose name is GOD of Hosts—As surely as Tabor is among the mountainsAnd Carmel is by the sea,So shall this come to pass. (19) Equip yourself for exile,Fair Egypt, you who dwell secure!For Noph shall become a waste,Desolate, without inhabitants. (20) Egypt is a handsome heifer—A gadfly from the north is coming, coming! (21) The mercenaries, too, in her midstAre like stall-fed calves;They too shall turn tail,Flee as one, and make no stand.Their day of disaster is upon them,The hour of their doom. (22) She shall rustle away like a snake As they come marching in force;They shall come against her with axes,Like hewers of wood. (23) They shall cut down her forest—declares GOD —Though it cannot be measured;For they are more numerous than locusts,And cannot be counted. (24) Fair Egypt shall be shamed,Handed over to the people of the north. (25) GOD of Hosts, the God of Israel, has said: I will inflict punishment on Amon of No and on Pharaoh—on Egypt, her gods, and her kings—on Pharaoh and all who rely on him. (26) I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek to kill them, into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and into the hands of his subjects. But afterward she shall be inhabited again as in former days, declares GOD. (27) But you,Have no fear, My servant Jacob,Be not dismayed, O Israel!I will deliver you from far away,Your folk from their land of captivity;And Jacob again shall have calmAnd quiet, with none to trouble him. (28) But you, have no fear,My servant Jacob—declares GOD —For I am with you.I will make an end of all the nationsAmong which I have banished you,But I will not make an end of you!I will not leave you unpunished,But I will chastise you in measure.

(13) The word that GOD spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt: (14) Declare in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol,Proclaim in Noph and Tahpanhes!Say: Take your posts and stand ready,For the sword has devoured all around you! (15) Why are your stalwarts swept away?They did not stand firm,For GOD thrust them down; (16) Many were made to stumble,They fell over one another.They said:“Up! let us return to our people,To the land of our birth,Because of the deadly sword.” (17) There they called Pharaoh king of Egypt:“Braggart who let the hour go by.” (18) As I live—declares the King, Whose name is GOD of Hosts—As surely as Tabor is among the mountainsAnd Carmel is by the sea,So shall this come to pass. (19) Equip yourself for exile,Fair Egypt, you who dwell secure!For Noph shall become a waste,Desolate, without inhabitants. (20) Egypt is a handsome heifer—A gadfly from the north is coming, coming! (21) The mercenaries, too, in her midstAre like stall-fed calves;They too shall turn tail,Flee as one, and make no stand.Their day of disaster is upon them,The hour of their doom. (22) She shall rustle away like a snake As they come marching in force;They shall come against her with axes,Like hewers of wood. (23) They shall cut down her forest—declares GOD —Though it cannot be measured;For they are more numerous than locusts,And cannot be counted. (24) Fair Egypt shall be shamed,Handed over to the people of the north. (25) GOD of Hosts, the God of Israel, has said: I will inflict punishment on Amon of No and on Pharaoh—on Egypt, her gods, and her kings—on Pharaoh and all who rely on him. (26) I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek to kill them, into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and into the hands of his subjects. But afterward she shall be inhabited again as in former days, declares GOD. (27) But you,Have no fear, My servant Jacob,Be not dismayed, O Israel!I will deliver you from far away,Your folk from their land of captivity;And Jacob again shall have calmAnd quiet, with none to trouble him. (28) But you, have no fear,My servant Jacob—declares GOD —For I am with you.I will make an end of all the nationsAmong which I have banished you,But I will not make an end of you!I will not leave you unpunished,But I will chastise you in measure.