Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
6 How innumerable, O Lord, my God,
are the wonders you have worked;
no one can compare with you
in the plans you have made for us.
I would proclaim them and recount them,
but there are far too many to enumerate.
7 [a]Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but you have made my ears receptive.[b]
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not demand.
8 [c]Then I said, “Behold I come;
it is written of me in the scroll of the book.
9 To do your will, O God, is my delight;
your law is in my heart.”[d]
10 I have proclaimed your righteousness in the great assembly;
I did not seal my lips,
as you well know, O Lord.
11 I have not concealed your righteousness within the depths of my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and salvation.
I have not concealed your kindness and your truth
in the great assembly.
12 O Lord, do not withhold your mercy from me;
may your kindness[e] and your truth keep me safe forever.
13 I am surrounded by evils without number;
my sins have so engulfed me that I cannot see.
They outnumber the hairs on my head,
and my heart sinks within me.[f]
14 [g]Be pleased, O Lord, to rescue me
O Lord, come quickly to my aid.
15 [h]May all those who seek to take my life
endure shame and confusion.
May all those who desire my ruin
be turned back and humiliated.
16 May those who cry out to me, “Aha, aha!”[i]
be overcome with shame and dismay.
17 But may all who seek you
rejoice in you and be jubilant.
May those who love your salvation
cry out forever, “The Lord be magnified.”
The Passover
Chapter 12
Preparations for the Passover.[a] 1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it shall be your first month of the year.[b] 3 Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, ‘The tenth of this month each person shall obtain a lamb for each family, one for each household. 4 If the family is too small to eat the lamb, they should join with their neighbors, based on the number of people. Figure the lamb according to how much each person can eat. 5 Your lamb should be without blemish,[c] male, a year old. You can choose either a sheep or a goat. 6 Keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. Then the whole community of Israel shall slaughter it in the evening. 7 Take a bit of its blood, put it on the two doorposts and upon the lintel of every house in which it is to be eaten. 8 That night eat its meat roasted. Eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat it raw or boiled in water, but only roasted with the head, legs, and inner organs. 10 Do not let any of it be kept until the morning. Whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned in the fire. 11 This is how you shall eat it, with your loins girt and sandals on your feet and a staff in your hand. Eat it quickly. It is the Passover[d] of the Lord.
12 “ ‘On that night I will pass over the land of Egypt and strike the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both human and animal, to render justice against all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood on your houses shall be the sign that you are inside. I will see the blood and pass over. There shall be no plague for you when I strike the land of Egypt.
21 Celebration of the Passover. Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go and obtain a lamb for each family and slaughter it for the Passover.[a] 22 Take a bunch of hyssop[b] and dip it into the blood in the bowl and sprinkle the blood from the bowl on the lintel and the two doorposts. None of you shall go outside until the morning. 23 The Lord will pass over to strike the Egyptians. He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts. The Lord will, therefore, pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter into your house to strike anyone there.[c]
24 “You shall observe this command as a fixed rite for yourselves and your children forever. 25 When you will have entered into the land that the Lord will give you, as he promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this rite of yours mean,’ 27 you shall tell them, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Passover of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and spared our houses.’ ”
The people knelt down and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went and did exactly what the Lord had ordered Moses and Aaron.
26 Baptism of a High Official.[a] Then the angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and head south along the road that leads from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.” 27 Therefore, he got up and set out.
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,[b] an official at the court of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was now returning home. As he sat in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join that chariot.” 30 When Philip ran up, he heard him reading from the prophet Isaiah, and he asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless I have someone to instruct me?” Then he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.
32 This was the Scripture passage he had been reading:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter;
like a lamb that is silent before its shearer
he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will be able to speak of his posterity?
For his life on earth has been taken away.”
34 Then the eunuch said to Philip, “Please tell me, about whom is the prophet speaking—about himself or someone else?” 35 And so Philip, starting with this text of Scripture, proceeded to explain to him the good news of Jesus.
36 As they were traveling along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, here is some water. What is to prevent me from being baptized?” [ 37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch said in reply, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”][c] 38 Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and he baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but he went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared in Azotus[d] and continued his journey, proclaiming the good news in every town until he reached Caesarea.
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