The first reading is from the book of Exodus.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

this month shall stand at the head of your calendar.

You shall reckon it the first month of the year.

Tell the whole community of Israel.

On the 10th of this month,

every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb,

one apiece for each household.

If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to the number of persons who partake of

it. The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish.

You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the 14th day of this

month, and then with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered

during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two

door pair, posts, and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb.

That same night, they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

This is how you are to eat it.

With your loins girt, sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight.

It is the Passover of the Lord.

For on this same night, I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn

of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt, I, the Lord.

But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you. Thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all of your

generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord as a perpetual institution. The word of the Lord.

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