Exodus 12 for Kids

For years and years, God's people had been slaves in Egypt. They worked in the hot sun all day. They cried out to God to help them. And God heard every single cry.

So God told Moses, “Tonight I am going to set My people free. Here is what every family must do.”

Each family was to pick out a perfect little lamb and share it for dinner. Then they were to take some of the lamb's blood and paint it on their door — up both sides and across the top. God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over your house. Everyone inside will be safe.”

And He told them something strange: “Eat with your coats on. Keep your shoes on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. Be ready to GO.”

So they did. All over the land, God's people sat down to dinner with their shoes on and their doors painted, waiting in the dark.

That night a great sadness swept through Egypt — and at last it broke Pharaoh's hard heart. But in every house marked with blood, God passed over, just like He said. Not one of His people was harmed.

Before the sun was even up, Pharaoh sent for Moses. “Go!” he said. “Take your people and GO!”

So they went — thousands and thousands of them, walking out of Egypt into the night. They grabbed their bread before it even had time to rise. After all those years, God's people were free.