Exodus 12:1-28

English Standard Version

The Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ²^(A)“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. ³Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb ^(B)according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. ⁴And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵Your lamb shall be ^(C)without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, ⁶and you shall keep it until the ^(D)fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.^[a]

⁷“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the ^(E)two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ⁸They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with ^(F)unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but ^(G)roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰And ^(H)you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. ¹¹In this manner you shall eat it: with ^(I)your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. ^(J)It is the Lord's Passover. ¹²For ^(K)I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on ^(L)all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: ^(M)I am the Lord. ¹³^(N)The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴“This day shall be ^(O)for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a ^(P)statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. ¹⁵^(Q)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, ^(R)that person shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶On the first day you shall hold a ^(S)holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. ¹⁷And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for ^(T)on this very day I brought your ^(U)hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. ¹⁸^(V)In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹^(W)For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, ^(X)that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, ^(Y)whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. ²⁰You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

²¹Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves ^(Z)according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. ²²Take a bunch of ^(AA)hyssop and ^(AB)dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch ^(AC)the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. ^(AD)None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ²³^(AE)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on ^(AF)the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^(AG)will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. ²⁴You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. ²⁵And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, ^(AH)as he has promised, you shall keep this service. ²⁶And ^(AI)when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷you shall say, ^(AJ)‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people ^(AK)bowed their heads and worshiped.

²⁸Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

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Footnotes

Exodus 12:6 Hebrew between the two evenings

Lamentations 4

English Standard Version

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

4 ^(A)How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
^(B)at the head of every street.

²The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in ^(C)fine gold,
how they are regarded as ^(D)earthen pots,
the work of a potter's hands!

³Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴The tongue of the nursing infant ^(E)sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
^(F)the children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.

⁵Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
^(G)those who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.

⁶^(H)For the chastisement^[a] of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment^[b] of Sodom,
^(I)which was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her.^[c]

⁷Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
the beauty of their form^[d] was like sapphire.^[e]

⁸^(J)Now their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.

⁹Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.

¹⁰^(K)The hands of ^(L)compassionate women
^(M)have boiled their own children;
^(N)they became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹^(O)The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and ^(P)he kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.

¹²^(Q)The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³This was for ^(R)the sins of her prophets
and ^(S)the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.

¹⁴^(T)They wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
^(U)that no one was able to touch
their garments.

¹⁵“Away! ^(V)Unclean!” people cried at them.
    “Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
    people said among the nations,
    “They shall stay with us no longer.”

¹⁶^(W)The Lord himself^[f] has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
^(X)no honor was shown to the priests,
^(Y)no favor to the elders.

¹⁷^(Z)Our eyes failed, ever watching
^(AA)vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for ^(AB)a nation which could not save.

¹⁸^(AC)They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
^(AD)our end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.

¹⁹Our pursuers were ^(AE)swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

²⁰^(AF)The breath of our nostrils, ^(AG)the Lord's anointed,
was captured ^(AH)in their pits,
of whom we said, ^(AI)“Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”

²¹^(AJ)Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in ^(AK)the land of Uz;
but to you also ^(AL)the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

²²^(AM)The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;^[g]
but ^(AN)your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.

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Footnotes

Lamentations 4:6 Or iniquity
Lamentations 4:6 Or sin
Lamentations 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Lamentations 4:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Lamentations 4:7 Hebrew lapis lazuli
Lamentations 4:16 Hebrew The face of the Lord
Lamentations 4:22 Or he will not exile you again

Hebrews 5

English Standard Version

5 For every high priest chosen from among men ^(A)is appointed to act on behalf of men ^(B)in relation to God, ^(C)to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²^(D)He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself ^(E)is beset with weakness. ³Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins ^(F)just as he does for those of the people. ⁴And ^(G)no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, ^(H)just as Aaron was.

⁵So also Christ ^(I)did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

^(J)“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”;

⁶as he says also in another place,

^(K)“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷In the days of his flesh, ^(L)Jesus^[a] offered up prayers and supplications, ^(M)with loud cries and tears, to him ^(N)who was able to save him from death, and ^(O)he was heard because of his reverence. ⁸Although ^(P)he was a son, ^(Q)he learned obedience through what he suffered. ⁹And ^(R)being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ¹⁰being designated by God a high priest ^(S)after the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Apostasy

¹¹About this we have much to say, and it is ^(T)hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹²For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again ^(U)the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need ^(V)milk, not solid food, ¹³for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is ^(W)a child. ¹⁴But solid food is for ^(X)the mature, for those who have their powers ^(Y)of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

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Footnotes

Hebrews 5:7 Greek he

Psalm 31

English Standard Version

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31 ^(A)In you, O Lord, do I ^(B)take refuge;
    ^(C)let me never be put to shame;
    in your ^(D)righteousness deliver me!
²Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be ^(E)a rock of ^(F)refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

³For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your ^(G)name's sake you lead me and guide me;
⁴you ^(H)take me out of ^(I)the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my ^(J)refuge.
⁵^(K)Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, ^(L)faithful God.

⁶I ^(M)hate^[a] those who pay ^(N)regard to worthless ^(O)idols,
    but I trust in the Lord.
⁷I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have ^(P)known the distress of my soul,
⁸and you have not ^(Q)delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in ^(R)a broad place.

⁹Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am ^(S)in distress;
    ^(T)my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also.
¹⁰For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and ^(U)my bones waste away.

¹¹Because of all my adversaries I have become ^(V)a reproach,
    especially to my ^(W)neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street ^(X)flee from me.
¹²I have been ^(Y)forgotten like one who is dead;
    I have become like ^(Z)a broken vessel.
¹³For I ^(AA)hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
^(AB)as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.

¹⁴But I ^(AC)trust in you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵My ^(AD)times are in your hand;
    ^(AE)rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
¹⁶^(AF)Make your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love!
¹⁷O Lord, ^(AG)let me not be put to shame,
    for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them go ^(AH)silently to Sheol.
¹⁸Let the lying lips be mute,
    which ^(AI)speak ^(AJ)insolently against the righteous
    in pride and contempt.

¹⁹Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
    which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
    ^(AK)in the sight of the children of mankind!
²⁰In ^(AL)the cover of your presence you hide them
    from the plots of men;
you ^(AM)store them in your shelter
    from the strife of tongues.

²¹Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously ^(AN)shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was in ^(AO)a besieged city.
²²I had said in my ^(AP)alarm,^[b]
    “I am ^(AQ)cut off from ^(AR)your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
    when I cried to you for help.

²³Love the Lord, all you his ^(AS)saints!
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    but abundantly ^(AT)repays the one who acts in pride.
²⁴^(AU)Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord!