First ReadingExodus 12:1-8, 11-14
From the Book of Exodus
1The Lord spoke to Mosesand Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,2“This month shall be to you the beginning of months.It shall be the first month of the year to you.3Speak to all the congregation of Israel,saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month,they shall take to them every man a lamb,according to their fathers’ houses,a lamb for a household;4and if the household is too little for a lamb,then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls.You shall make your count for the lamb according to what everyone can eat.5Your lamb shall be without defect, a male a year old.You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats.6You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month;and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.7They shall take some of the blood,and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel,on the houses in which they shall eat it.8They shall eat the meat in that night,roasted with fire,with unleavened bread.They shall eat it with bitter herbs. verses 9–10 are not read11This is how you shall eat it:with your belt on your waist,your sandals on your feet,and your staff in your hand;and you shall eat it in haste:it is the Lord’s Passover.12For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night,and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,both man and animal.I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.I am the Lord.13The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are.When I see the blood,I will pass over you,and no plague will be on you to destroy youwhen I strike the land of Egypt.14This day shall be a memorial for you.You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord.You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.