Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

² This month shall be to you the beginning of months, the first month of the year to you.

³ Tell all the congregation of Israel, On the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb or kid, according to [the size of] the family of which he is the father, a lamb or kid for each house.

⁴ And if the household is too small to consume the lamb, let him and his next door neighbor take it according to the number of persons, every man according to what each can eat shall make your count for the lamb.

⁵ Your lamb or kid shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; you shall take it from the sheep or the goats.^(A)

⁶ And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall [each] kill [his] lamb in the evening.

⁷ They shall take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the lintel [above the door space] of the houses in which they shall eat [the Passover lamb].^(B)

⁸ They shall eat the flesh that night roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.

⁹ Eat not of it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roasted—its head, its legs, and its inner parts.

¹⁰ You shall let nothing of the meat remain until the morning; and the bones and unedible bits which remain of it until morning you shall burn with fire.

¹¹ And you shall eat it thus: [as fully prepared for a journey] your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment [proving their helplessness]. I am the Lord.

¹³ The blood shall be for a token or sign to you upon [the doorposts of] the houses where you are, [that] when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.^(C)

¹⁴ And this day shall be to you for a memorial. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, keep it as an ordinance forever.

Psalm 149

¹ Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, praise Him in the assembly of His saints!

² Let Israel rejoice in Him, their Maker; let Zion’s children triumph and be joyful in their King!^(A)

³ Let them praise His name in chorus and choir and with the [single or group] dance; let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre!

⁴ For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation and adorn the wretched with victory.

⁵ Let the saints be joyful in the glory and beauty [which God confers upon them]; let them sing for joy upon their beds.

⁶ Let the high praises of God be in their throats and a two-edged sword in their hands,^(B)

⁷ To wreak vengeance upon the nations and chastisement upon the peoples,

⁸ To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron,

⁹ To execute upon them the judgment written. He [the Lord] is the honor of all His saints. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

⁸ Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor [who practices loving others] has fulfilled the Law [relating to one’s fellowmen, meeting all its requirements].

⁹ The commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet (have an evil desire), and any other commandment, are summed up in the single command, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.^(A)

¹⁰ Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.

¹¹ Besides this you know what [a critical] hour this is, how it is high time now for you to wake up out of your sleep (rouse to reality). For salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now than when we first believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Christ, the Messiah).

¹² The night is far gone and the day is almost here. Let us then drop (fling away) the works and deeds of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light.

¹³ Let us live and conduct ourselves honorably and becomingly as in the [open light of] day, not in reveling (carousing) and drunkenness, not in immorality and debauchery (sensuality and licentiousness), not in quarreling and jealousy.

¹⁴ But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and make no provision for [indulging] the flesh [put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature] to [gratify its] desires (lusts).

¹⁵ If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

¹⁷ If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.^(A)

¹⁸ Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be ^[a]what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be ^[b]what is already permitted in heaven.

¹⁹ Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and ^[c]everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven.

²⁰ For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I Am in the midst of them.^(B)