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FTER this  Moses  and  Aaron  spoke  to  the  children  of  Israel, telling them  of  the  Lord's  command  to  make  this  month henceforth the  first  of  the  year,  and  to  kill  in  every  family  a lamb without blemish,  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month,  and  to sprinkle  the  door-posts  with  the  blood  of  the  lamb. The Lord also commanded  that,  on  the  same  night,  they  should  eat  the flesh of  the  lamb  with  unleavened  bread  and  wild  lettuce. They should, moreover,  have  their  loins  girt,  and  shoes  on  their  feet and staves  in  their  hand;  for  that  it  was  the  passing  of  the Lord, and  that,  on  that  night,  His  angel  would  slay  every  firstborn of  the  Egyptians.

The Israelites  did  as  they  were  commanded,  and  at  midnight, the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month,  the  destroying  angel visited every  house  in  Egypt  and  slew  every  first-born,  from  the king's own to  the  first-born  of  the  captive  woman  in  prison. But the houses  of  the  Jews  he  did  not  enter;  for  the  doors  thereof were sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  lamb. And a fearful  cry