And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, 'About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant who grinds at the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against {173} any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.' And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, 'Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out.'" And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. And the Lord said unto Moses, "Pharaoh will not hearken unto you: that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt." And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land. (After the ninth plague, the plague of darkness, came a tenth plague, the very worst of all, the description of which is given in another place.) THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. _The Israelites Make Ready for the March_. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for an household: and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbor next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls. {174} Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: and 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 at even. And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor boiled with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.