12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,(A)
    the people he chose(B) for his inheritance.(C)
13 From heaven the Lord looks down(D)
    and sees all mankind;(E)
14 from his dwelling place(F) he watches
    all who live on earth—
15 he who forms(G) the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.(H)

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;(I)
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse(J) is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes(K) of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,(L)
19 to deliver them from death(M)
    and keep them alive in famine.(N)

20 We wait(O) in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,(P)
    for we trust in his holy name.(Q)
22 May your unfailing love(R) be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

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21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover(A) lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop,(B) dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood(C) on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike(D) down the Egyptians, he will see the blood(E) on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over(F) that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer(G) to enter your houses and strike you down.

24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance(H) for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land(I) that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children(J) ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover(K) sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”(L) Then the people bowed down and worshiped.(M) 28 The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded(N) Moses and Aaron.

29 At midnight(O) the Lord(P) struck down all the firstborn(Q) in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock(R) as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing(S) in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

The Exodus

31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship(T) the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds,(U) as you have said, and go. And also bless(V) me.”

33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry(W) and leave(X) the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”(Y) 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs(Z) wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold(AA) and for clothing.(AB) 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed(AC) toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered(AD) the Egyptians.

37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses(AE) to Sukkoth.(AF) There were about six hundred thousand men(AG) on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people(AH) went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out(AI) of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt[a] was 430 years.(AJ) 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions(AK) left Egypt.(AL) 42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.(AM)

Passover Restrictions

43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:(AN)

“No foreigner(AO) may eat it. 44 Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised(AP) him, 45 but a temporary resident or a hired worker(AQ) may not eat it.

46 “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.(AR) 47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

48 “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.(AS) No uncircumcised(AT) male may eat it. 49 The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner(AU) residing among you.”

50 All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded(AV) Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt(AW) by their divisions.(AX)

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 12:40 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint Egypt and Canaan

The Parable of the Tenants(A)

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted(B) a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.(C) Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.(D) 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants(E) to the tenants to collect his fruit.

35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.(F) 36 Then he sent other servants(G) to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.(H) Come, let’s kill him(I) and take his inheritance.’(J) 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,”(K) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,(L) who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]?(M)

43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you(N) and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[b](O)

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.(P)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22,23
  2. Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.

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