The Passover

9 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in ^(A)the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ² “Now the sons of Israel are to ^[a]celebrate the Passover at ^(B)its appointed time. ³ On the fourteenth day of this month, ^[b]at twilight, you shall celebrate it at its appointed time; you shall celebrate it in accordance with all its statutes and all its ordinances.” ⁴ So Moses ^[c]told the sons of Israel to celebrate the Passover. ⁵ And ^(C)they celebrated the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; ^(D)in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did. ⁶ But there were some men who were ^(E)unclean because of contact with a ^[d]dead person, so that they could not celebrate Passover on that day; and ^(F)they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. ⁷ Those men said to him, “Though we are unclean because of a ^[e]dead person, why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?” ⁸ Moses then said to them, “^[f](G)Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you.”

⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead ^[g]person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, celebrate the Passover to the Lord. ¹¹ In the second month on the ^(H)fourteenth day at twilight, they shall celebrate it; they ^(I)shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹² They ^(J)shall not leave any of it until morning, ^(K)nor break a bone of it; they shall celebrate it in accordance with the whole statute of the Passover. ^13 (L)But the person who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from celebrating the Passover, that ^[h]person shall then be cut off from his people, because he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That person ^(M)will bear the responsibility for his sin. ¹⁴ And ^(N)if a stranger resides among you and ^[i]celebrates the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and its ordinance, so he shall celebrate it; you shall have ^[j]the ^(O)same statute, both for the stranger and for the native of the land.’”

The Cloud on the Tabernacle

¹⁵ Now on ^(P)the day that the tabernacle was erected, ^(Q)the cloud covered the tabernacle, the ^(R)tent of the testimony, and ^(S)in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle until morning. ¹⁶ That is how it was continuously; ^(T)the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. ^17 (U)Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. ¹⁸ At the ^[k]command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the ^[l]command of the Lord they would camp; ^(V)as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, ^[m]the sons of Israel would comply with the Lord’s ordinance and not set out. ²⁰ If ^[n]sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, ^(W)in accordance with the ^[o]command of the Lord they remained camped. Then in accordance with the ^[p]command of the Lord they set out. ²¹ If ^[q]sometimes the cloud ^[r]remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning they would set out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. ²² Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but ^(X)when it was lifted, they did set out. ^23 (Y)At the ^[s]command of the Lord they camped, and at the ^[t]command of the Lord they set out; they did what the Lord required, in accordance with the ^[u]command of the Lord through Moses.

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.

For the music director; ^[a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.

Parable of the Talents

¹⁴ “^(A)For it is just like a man ^(B)about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five ^[a](C)talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he ^(D)went on his journey. ¹⁶ The one who had received the five ^(E)talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. ¹⁸ But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his ^[b]master’s money.

¹⁹ “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *^(F)settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The one who had received the five ^(G)talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(H)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will ^(I)put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your ^[c]master.’

²² “Also the one who had received the two ^(J)talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(K)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’

²⁴ “Now the one who had received the one ^(L)talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You ^[d]worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have ^[e]put my money in the bank, and ^[f]on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ²⁸ Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

²⁹ “^(M)For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ³⁰ And throw the worthless slave into ^(N)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.