First Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ² “This month will be the first month; it will be the first month of the year for you.^{[a] 3} Tell the whole Israelite community: On the tenth day of this month they must take a lamb for each household, a lamb per house. ⁴ If a household is too small for a lamb, it should share one with a neighbor nearby. You should divide the lamb in proportion to the number of people who will be eating it. ⁵ Your lamb should be a flawless year-old male. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ You should keep close watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month. At twilight on that day, the whole assembled Israelite community should slaughter their lambs. ⁷ They should take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the beam over the door of the houses in which they are eating. ⁸ That same night they should eat the meat roasted over the fire. They should eat it along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over fire with its head, legs, and internal organs. ¹⁰ Don’t let any of it remain until morning, and burn any of it left over in the morning. ¹¹ This is how you should eat it. You should be dressed, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. You should eat the meal in a hurry. It is the Passover of the Lord. ¹² I’ll pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I’ll strike down every oldest child in the land of Egypt, both humans and animals. I’ll impose judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be your sign on the houses where you live. Whenever I see the blood, I’ll pass over^[b] you. No plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “This day will be a day of remembering for you. You will observe it as a festival to the Lord. You will observe it in every generation as a regulation for all time.

²⁹ Don’t chase after what you will eat and what you will drink. Stop worrying. ³⁰ All the nations of the world long for these things. Your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ Instead, desire his kingdom and these things will be given to you as well.

³² “Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights in giving you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Make for yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a treasure in heaven that never runs out. No thief comes near there, and no moth destroys. ³⁴ Where your treasure is, there your heart will be too.

Warning about being prepared

³⁵ “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶ Be like people waiting for their master to come home from a wedding celebration, who can immediately open the door for him when he arrives and knocks on the door. ³⁷ Happy are those servants whom the master finds waiting up when he arrives. I assure you that, when he arrives, he will dress himself to serve, seat them at the table as honored guests, and wait on them. ³⁸ Happy are those whom he finds alert, even if he comes at midnight or just before dawn.^{[a] 39} But know this, if the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he wouldn’t have allowed his home to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, because the Human One^[b] is coming at a time when you don’t expect him.”