A Joyful Return to Zion

A Song of Ascents.

²¹ Then ^(A)Moses called for all the ^(B)elders of Israel and said to them, ^(C)“Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. ^22 (D)And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and ^(E)strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. ^23 (F)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the ^(G)blood on the ^[a]lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^(H)not allow ^(I)the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. ²⁴ And you shall ^(J)observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. ²⁵ It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, ^(K)just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. ^26 (L)And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ^(M)‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people ^(N)bowed their heads and worshiped.

The Plot to Kill Jesus^(A)

⁴⁵ Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, ^(B)and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went away to the Pharisees and ^(C)told them the things Jesus did. ^47 (D)Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ^(E)“What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

⁴⁹ And one of them, ^(F)Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ^50 (G)nor do you consider that it is expedient for ^[a]us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and ^(H)not for that nation only, but ^(I)also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

⁵³ Then, from that day on, they plotted to ^(J)put Him to death. ^54 (K)Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called ^(L)Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

^55 (M)And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to ^(N)purify themselves. ^56 (O)Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” ⁵⁷ Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might ^(P)seize Him.