Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Passover is Instituted

12 The Lord told Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ² “This month will mark the beginning of months for you. It will be the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell the entire congregation of Israel, ‘On the tenth of this month they’re each to take a lamb for themselves, according to their ancestors’ households, one lamb for each household. ⁴ If a household is too small for a lamb, then it and its closest neighbor are to obtain one based on the number of individuals—dividing^[a] the lamb based on what each person can eat.

⁵ Your lamb is to be a year old male without blemish. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ It is to remain under your care until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the entire assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. ⁷ They’re to take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat the lamb.^{[a] 8} That very night they’re to eat the meat, roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water. Instead, roast it over the fire, with its head, legs, and internal organs. ¹⁰ Don’t leave any of it until morning, and whatever does remain of it until morning you are to burn in the fire.

¹¹ “‘This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it hurriedly—it’s the Lord’s Passover. ¹² I’ll pass through the land of Egypt that night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I’ll execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. I’ll see the blood and pass over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “‘This day is to be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it as a perpetual ordinance from generation to generation.

God, My Deliverer

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you—how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread, ²⁴ gave thanks for it, and broke it in pieces, saying, “This is my body that is^[a] for you. Keep doing this in memory of me.” ²⁵ He did the same with the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink from it, keep doing this in memory of me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

13 Now before the Passover Festival, Jesus realized that his hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.^{[a] 2} By supper time, the Devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him. ³ Because Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his control,^[b] that he had come from God, and that he was returning to God, ⁴ therefore he got up from the table, removed his outer robe, and took a towel and fastened it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel that was tied around his waist.

⁶ Then he came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “You don’t realize now what I’m doing, but later on you’ll understand.”

⁸ Peter told him, “You must never wash my feet!”

Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you cannot be involved with me.”

⁹ Simon Peter told him, “Lord, not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus told him, “Whoever has bathed is entirely clean. He doesn’t need to wash himself further, except for his feet. And you men^[c] are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him. That’s why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² When Jesus^[d] had washed their feet and put on his outer robe, he sat down again and told them, “Do you realize what I’ve done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right^[e] because that is what I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you must also wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I’ve set an example for you, so that you may do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Truly, I tell all of you^[f] emphatically, a servant isn’t greater than his master, and a messenger isn’t greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you understand these things, how blessed you are if you put them into practice!

The New Commandment

³¹ After Judas^[a] had gone out, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is now glorified, and God has been glorified by him. ³² If God has been glorified by him,^[b] God himself also will glorify the Son of Man,^[c] and he will do so^[d] quickly. ³³ Little children, I’m with you only a little longer. You will look for me, but what I told the Jewish leaders^[e] I now tell you, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴ I’m giving you a new commandment…to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵ This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”