Exodus 12:1–4, (5–10), 11–14 (NRSV)
Read Exodus 12:1–4, (5–10), 11–14 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 12The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: Verse 2This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Verse 3Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. Verse 4If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Verse 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Verse 6You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. Verse 7They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. Verse 8They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Verse 9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. Verse 10You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. Verse 11This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. Verse 12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. Verse 13The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Verse 14This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Devotion
We begin this Holy Week with a focus on the first reading for Maundy Thursday, the institution of Passover. Located between the ninth and the tenth plagues lodged against Pharaoh for his refusal to let God’s people go, Passover protects the Israelites from the death of the firstborn. Following the instructions of Moses and Aaron, the Israelites observe the first Passover ready to travel because immediately after the execution of the tenth plague, Pharaoh releases God’s people (Exodus 12:31). God’s people are free! And the promise God made to Moses is fulfilled, “Say therefore to the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians … I will take you as my people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:6–7). This story reminds us of the very character of God—a God of liberation. God frees us from anything that might separate us from God—even death.
Prayer
Dear God, as we remember today how you freed your people, help us to trust in your promise, “I will be your God,” and that not even death can separate us from you. Amen.
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