26. When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you? ’
27. you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’ ” So the people bowed down and worshiped.
28. Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
29. Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock.
30. During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead.
31. He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship Yahweh as you have asked.
32. Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.”
33. Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, “We’re all going to die! ”
34. So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.
35. The Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.
36. And the Lord gave the people such favor in the Egyptians’ sight that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.
37. The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about 600,000 soldiers on foot, besides their families.
38. An ethnically diverse crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds.