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Psalm 122

1  I was glad when they said to me, ♦︎
   ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’
2  And now our feet are standing ♦︎
   within your gates, O Jerusalem;
3  Jerusalem, built as a city ♦︎
   that is at unity in itself.
4  Thither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, ♦︎
   as is decreed for Israel,
      to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5  For there are set the thrones of judgement, ♦︎
   the thrones of the house of David.
6  O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ♦︎
   ‘May they prosper who love you.
7  ‘Peace be within your walls ♦︎
   and tranquillity within your palaces.’
8  For my kindred and companions’ sake, ♦︎
   I will pray that peace be with you.
9  For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, ♦︎
   I will seek to do you good.

Psalm 132

1  Lord, remember for David ♦︎
   all the hardships he endured;
2  How he swore an oath to the Lord ♦︎
   and vowed a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3  ‘I will not come within the shelter of my house, ♦︎
   nor climb up into my bed;
4  ‘I will not allow my eyes to sleep, ♦︎
   nor let my eyelids slumber,
5  ‘Until I find a place for the Lord, ♦︎
   a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.’
6  Now, we heard of the ark in Ephrathah ♦︎
   and found it in the fields of Ja-ar.
7  Let us enter his dwelling place ♦︎
   and fall low before his footstool.
8  Arise, O Lord, into your resting place, ♦︎
   you and the ark of your strength.
9  Let your priests be clothed with righteousness ♦︎
   and your faithful ones sing with joy.
10  For your servant David’s sake, ♦︎
   turn not away the face of your anointed.
11  The Lord has sworn an oath to David, ♦︎
   a promise from which he will not shrink:
12  ‘Of the fruit of your body ♦︎
   shall I set upon your throne.
13  ‘If your children keep my covenant
      and my testimonies that I shall teach them, ♦︎
   their children also shall sit upon your throne for evermore.’
14  For the Lord has chosen Zion for himself; ♦︎
   he has desired her for his habitation:
15  ‘This shall be my resting place for ever; ♦︎
   here will I dwell, for I have longed for her.
16  ‘I will abundantly bless her provision; ♦︎
   her poor will I satisfy with bread.
17  ‘I will clothe her priests with salvation, ♦︎
   and her faithful ones shall rejoice and sing.
18  ‘There will I make a horn to spring up for David; ♦︎
   I will keep a lantern burning for my anointed.
19  ‘As for his enemies, I will clothe them with shame; ♦︎
   but on him shall his crown be bright.’

13The Lord said to Moses: ²Consecrate to me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is mine.

The Festival of Unleavened Bread

3 Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. ⁵When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this observance in this month. ⁶For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the Lord. ⁷Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory. ⁸You shall tell your child on that day, “It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.” ⁹It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the Lord may be on your lips; for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰You shall keep this ordinance at its proper time from year to year.

The Consecration of the Firstborn

11 ‘When the Lord has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your ancestors, and has given it to you, ¹²you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your livestock that are males shall be the Lord’s. ¹³But every firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. Every firstborn male among your children you shall redeem. ¹⁴When in the future your child asks you, “What does this mean?” you shall answer, “By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹⁵When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human firstborn to the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord every male that first opens the womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.” ¹⁶It shall serve as a sign on your hand and as an emblem^* on your forehead that by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.’

The New Life in Christ

12I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,^* by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual^* worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world,^* but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.^*

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.