And all things, as many as you might ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:22
Exodus 12-13
Exodus 12
The Lord’s Passover
1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “This month will be the beginning of months for you. It will be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they must each select a lamb, according to their fathers’ households, one lamb per household. 4 If the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his next door neighbor must take one according to the number of people, dividing the lamb according to what everyone can eat.
5 Your lamb must be without defect, a one year old male. You may take it from either the sheep, or from the goats. 6 You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel must kill it at evening.
7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they will eat it. 8 They must eat the meat on that night, roasted with fire and unleavened bread. They must eat it with bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boil any of it with water, but roast it with fire, with its head, its legs and its inner parts.
10 You must let nothing of it remain until the morning, but that which remains of it until the morning you must burn with fire. 11 This is how you must eat it: with your belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you must eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments against all the the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
13 The blood must be a token for you 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 you when I strike the land of Egypt.’ ”
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
14 ” ‘This day must be a memorial for you. You must keep it as a feast to the Lord. You must keep it as a feast throughout your generations as an ordinance forever.
15 Seven days you must eat unleavened bread, from the first day you must remove yeast from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person must be cut off from Israel.
16 On the first day you must hold a sacred assembly and again on the seventh day. No kind of work may be done on those days, except to prepare what each man needs to eat. Only that may be done by you.
17 You must observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you must observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you must eat unleavened bread, until the 21st day of the month at evening. 19 There must be no yeast found in your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that person must be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. 20 You must eat nothing leavened. In all your households you must eat unleavened bread.’ ”
21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. 22 You must take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two door posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. 24 You must observe this thing as an ordinance to you and to your sons forever.
25 And it shall come to pass, when you have entered into the land which the Lord will give you, as he has promised, that you must observe this ceremony. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children ask you, ‘What is the meaning of this ceremony?’ 27 that you must say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and spared our households.’ ”
The people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 The Israelites went and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
29 At midnight, the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of livestock. 30 Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not someone dead.
The Exodus Begins
31 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, serve the Lord, as you have said! 32 Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said and be gone, and also bless me!”
33 The Egyptians urged the people to leave the land in haste, for they said, “We will all die.” 34 The people took their dough before it was leavened, and they bound their kneading troughs up in their clothing and carried them on their shoulders. 35 The Israelites did according to the word of Moses and they asked the Egyptians for jewels of silver and jewels of gold and clothing. 36 The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
37 The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about 600,000 men on foot, in addition to children. 38 A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and a very large number of livestock. 39 They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Egypt. It was not leavened because they were driven out of Egypt in haste and could not wait, and they had not prepared any food for themselves. 40 Now the time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, to the day, all of the Lord’s armies went out from the land of Egypt.
42 It is a night of vigil unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, to be observed by all the Israelites throughout their generations.
Instructions for the Passover
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner must eat of it, 44 but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he must eat of it. 45 A foreigner and a hired servant must not eat of it. 46 It must be eaten in one house. You must not carry any of the meat outside of the house. Do not break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel must keep it. 48 When a stranger lives as a foreigner with you and would like to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised and then let him come near and keep it. He must be like one who is born in the land, but no uncircumcised person must eat of it. 49 One law must be for him who is born at home and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.”
50 All the Israelites did this. As the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 51 That same day, the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
Exodus 13
Consecration of the Firstborn
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Sanctify every firstborn male to me, whatever opens the womb among the Israelites, both of man and of animal. It is mine.”
3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for by the strength of his hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
4 This day, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5 It shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe this ceremony in this month.
6 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days, and no leavened bread shall be seen among you. No yeast shall be seen among you, nor shall there be leaven seen within your borders.
8 You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 It shall be for you like a sign on your hand and a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.
11 “It shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 that you shall set apart to the Lord every firstborn from the womb and every firstborn that comes from an animal which is yours: the males shall belong to the Lord. 13 You shall redeem every firstborn donkey with a lamb, and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. Among your children, you must redeem every firstborn male.
14 It shall be, when your son asks you in days to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By the strength of his hand, the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, the firstborn of both man and livestock. That is why I sacrifice to the Lord every male that is firstborn from the womb, but all the firstborn of my children, I redeem.’ 16 It shall be for you, a sign on your hand and a symbol between your eyes, for by the strength of his hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
Guided by God through the Wilderness
17 When Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearby, for God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and they return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people through the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea, and the Israelites went up in battle formation out of the land of Egypt.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the Israelites swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.”
20 They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
Matthew 21:1-22
The Triumphal Entry
1 When they came near to Jerusalem and arrived at Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them immediately.”
4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,
your King is coming to you,
humble, and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” a
6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them 7 and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The multitudes who went in front of him and those who followed, kept shouting,
“Hosanna to the son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!”
10 When he had come into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
12 Jesus entered into the temple and drove out all of those who bought and sold in the temple and overthrew the money changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!” b
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?”
Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have prepared praise?’ ” c
17 He left them and went out of the city to Bethany and camped there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18 Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let no fruit come from you ever again!” Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree immediately wither away?”
21 Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done. 22 And all things, as many as you might ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
a Zechariah 9:9
b Isaiah 56:7
c Psalm 8:2
Psalm 25:16-22
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged.
Oh bring me out of my distress.
18 Consider my affliction and my pain.
Forgive all my sins.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many.
They hate me with cruel hatred.
20 Preserve my life and deliver me.
Let me not put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
from all its troubles.
Proverbs 6:12-15
12 A worthless person, a man of iniquity,
is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 who winks with his eyes,
who signals with his feet,
who motions with his fingers,
14 in whose heart is perverseness,
who devises evil continually,
who always sows discord.
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly.
He will be broken suddenly, and without remedy.