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Exodus 12:5
ESV Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,
NIV The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.
NASB Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
CSB You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
NLT The animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects.
KJV Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
NKJV Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

What does Exodus 12:5 mean?

God is explaining how Israel should prepare for the very first Passover (Exodus 12:1–4). When God delivers a crushing plague on Egypt (Exodus 11:4–6), He will "pass over" those homes who follow these instructions (Exodus 12:13). So far, the people have been told to consider the current month as the start of the yearly calendar. They are to select lambs for this event, either from a sheep, or from a goat.

Here, the Lord explains that the lambs must be flawless. In context, this means they could not be diseased, lame, deformed, or compromised in any way. Sacrifices to the Lord were meant to cost something; they were not intended as a way to make use of something otherwise worthless.

The lambs also had to be male. This might have been because a flawless male was much more valuable for breeding than a female. This could also be to reflect the role of Jesus Christ more closely as the eventual fulfillment of prophecy (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). However, no explicit reason is given.

Requiring a year-old lamb disqualified animals that hadn't been given an investment of time and resources, as well as those nearing an age where they were no longer of use. Once again, this emphasizes the idea that true sacrifices mean giving up something of personal value.
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