Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The First Passover

12 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ² “This month will be the beginning of months, the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb for the people in his house. ⁴ If there are not enough people in his house to eat a whole lamb, he must share it with his closest neighbor, considering the number of people. There must be enough lamb for everyone to eat. ⁵ The lamb must be a one-year-old male that has nothing wrong with it. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. ⁶ Take care of the animals until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day all the people of the community of Israel will kill them in the evening before dark. ⁷ The people must take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ On this night they must roast the lamb over a fire. They must eat it with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole lamb over a fire—with its head, legs, and inner organs. ¹⁰ You must not leave any of it until morning, but if any of it is left over until morning, you must burn it with fire.

¹¹ “This is the way you must eat it: You must be fully dressed as if you were going on a trip. You must have your sandals on and your walking stick in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry; this is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “That night I will go through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn animals and people in the land of Egypt. I will also punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ But the blood will be a sign on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing terrible will hurt you when I punish the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “You are always to remember this day and celebrate it with a feast to the Lord. Your descendants are to honor the Lord with this feast from now on.

Praise the God of Israel

Loving Others

⁸ Do not owe people anything, except always owe love to each other, because the person who loves others has obeyed all the law. ⁹ The law says, “You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not want to take your neighbor’s things.”^[a] All these commands and all others are really only one rule: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love never hurts a neighbor, so loving is obeying all the law.

¹¹ Do this because we live in an important time. It is now time for you to wake up from your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The “night”^[c] is almost finished, and the “day”^[d] is almost here. So we should stop doing things that belong to darkness and take up the weapons used for fighting in the light. ¹³ Let us live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or get drunk. There should be no sexual sins of any kind, no fighting or jealousy. ¹⁴ But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and forget about satisfying your sinful self.

When a Person Sins Against You

¹⁵ “If your fellow believer sins against you,^[a] go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you have helped that person to be your brother or sister again. ¹⁶ But if he refuses to listen, go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’^{[b] 17} If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like a person who does not believe in God or like a tax collector.

¹⁸ “I tell you the truth, the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. And the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.

¹⁹ “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”