Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Passover Lamb

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ² “This ^[a]month shall be the beginning of months to you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. ³ Tell all the congregation of Israel, ‘On the tenth [day] of this month they are to take a lamb or young goat for themselves, according to [the size of] the household of which he is the father, a lamb or young goat for each household. ⁴ Now if the household is too small for a lamb [to be consumed], let him and his next door neighbor take one according to the number of people [in the households]; according to what each man can eat, you are to divide the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb or young goat shall be [perfect] without blemish or bodily defect, a male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.^{(A) 6} You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it ^[b]at twilight. ⁷ Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel [above the door] of the houses in which they eat it.^{(B) 8} They shall eat the meat that same night, roasted in fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted in fire—both its head and its legs, along with its inner parts. ¹⁰ You shall let none of the meat remain until the morning, and anything that remains left over until morning, you shall burn completely in the fire. ¹¹ Now you are to eat it in this manner: [be prepared for a journey] with your ^[c]loins girded [that is, with the outer garment tucked into the band], your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; you shall eat it quickly—it is the Lord’s Passover. ¹² For I [the Lord] will pass through the land of Egypt on this night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal; against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments [exhibiting their worthlessness]. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood shall be a sign for you on [the doorposts of] the houses where you live; when I see the blood I shall pass over you, and no affliction shall happen to you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.^(C)

²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take a lamb for yourselves according to [the size of] your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²² You shall take a bunch of ^[a]hyssop, dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch some of the blood to the lintel [above the doorway] and to the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.

A Memorial of Redemption

²³ For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel [above the entry way] and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow ^[b]the destroyer to come into your houses to slay you. ²⁴ You shall observe this event [concerning Passover] as an ordinance for you and for your children forever. ²⁵ When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep and observe this service. ²⁶ When your children say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ ²⁷ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed [their heads] low and worshiped [God].

²⁸ Then the Israelites went and did [as they had been told]: just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

²⁶ But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the road that runs from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” (This is a desert road). ²⁷ So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch [a man of great authority], a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning, and sitting in his chariot he was reading [the scroll of] the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ Then the [Holy] Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I [understand] unless someone guides me [correctly]?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now this was the passage of Scripture which he was reading:

³⁴ The eunuch replied to Philip, “Please tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? About himself or about someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip spoke and beginning with this Scripture he preached Jesus to him [explaining that He is the promised Messiah and the source of salvation]. ³⁶ As they continued along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch exclaimed, “Look! Water! What forbids me from being baptized?” ^37 [a][Philip said to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] ³⁸ And he ordered that the chariot be stopped; and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord [suddenly] took Philip [and carried him] away [to a different place]; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but he went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at ^[b]Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the good news [of salvation] to all the cities, until he came to ^[c]Caesarea [Maritima].