Monday in Epiphany

1Verse 1. Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2Verse 2. “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year. 3Verse 3. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household. 4Verse 4. If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly. 5Verse 5. Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats. 6Verse 6. You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. 7Verse 7. They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8Verse 8. They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9Verse 9. Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire— its head and legs and inner parts. 10Verse 10. Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over. 11Verse 11. This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. 12Verse 12. On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13Verse 13. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 21Verse 21. Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22Verse 22. Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and brush the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23Verse 23. When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. 24Verse 24. And you are to keep this command as a permanent statute for you and your descendants. 25Verse 25. When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as He promised, you are to keep this service. 26Verse 26. When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ 27Verse 27. you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28Verse 28. And the Israelites went and did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

26Verse 26. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27Verse 27. So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28Verse 28. and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet. 29Verse 29. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.” 30Verse 30. So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31Verse 31. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Verse 32. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. 33Verse 33. In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.” 34Verse 34. “Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35Verse 35. Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36Verse 36. As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?” 38Verse 38. And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39Verse 39. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Verse 40. But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.