The Passover Ritual Prescribed.^* 1The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2^* This month will stand at the head of your calendar; you will reckon it the first month of the year.^a 3Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every family must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. 4If a household is too small for a lamb, it along with its nearest neighbor will procure one, and apportion the lamb’s cost^* in proportion to the number of persons, according to what each household consumes. 5Your lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6You will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole community of Israel assembled, it will be slaughtered during the evening twilight. 7They will take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8They will consume its meat that same night, eating it roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9Do not eat any of it raw or even boiled in water, but roasted, with its head and shanks and inner organs. 10You must not keep any of it beyond the morning; whatever is left over in the morning must be burned up.

11This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you will eat it in a hurry. It is the LORD’s Passover.

10My son, should sinners entice you,

11do not go if they say, “Come along with us!

Let us lie in wait for blood,

unprovoked, let us trap the innocent;

12Let us swallow them alive, like Sheol,

whole, like those who go down to the pit!

13All kinds of precious wealth shall we gain,

we shall fill our houses with booty;

14Cast in your lot with us,

we shall all have one purse!”

15My son, do not walk in the way with them,

hold back your foot from their path!

16[For their feet run to evil,

they hasten to shed blood.^c]

17In vain a net is spread^*

right under the eyes of any bird—

18They lie in wait for their own blood,

they set a trap for their own lives.

19This is the way of everyone greedy for loot:

it takes away their lives.

The Victory Song.^* 5A voice coming from the throne said:

“Praise our God, all you his servants,

[and] you who revere him, small and great.”^c

6Then I heard something like the sound of a great multitude or the sound of rushing water or mighty peals of thunder, as they said:

“Alleluia!

The Lord has established his reign,

[our] God, the almighty.

7Let us rejoice and be glad

and give him glory.

For the wedding day of the Lamb^* has come,

his bride has made herself ready.^d

8She was allowed to wear

a bright, clean linen garment.”^e

(The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.)^*

9Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed^* are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true; they come from God.”^f 10I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers who bear witness to Jesus. Worship God.^g Witness to Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”^*

The King of Kings. 11^* Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was [called] “Faithful and True.” He judges and wages war in righteousness.^h 12His eyes were [like] a fiery flame, and on his head were many diadems. He had a name^* inscribed that no one knows except himself.ⁱ 13He wore a cloak that had been dipped in^* blood, and his name was called the Word of God.^j 14The armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and wearing clean white linen.^k 15Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he himself will tread out in the wine press^* the wine of the fury and wrath of God the almighty.^l 16He has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”^m

The Last Supper.^h 14When the hour came, he took his place at table with the apostles. 15He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover^* with you before I suffer, 16for, I tell you, I shall not eat it [again] until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”ⁱ 17Then he took a cup,^* gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18for I tell you [that] from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19^{* j} Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” 20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.^k

The Betrayal Foretold. 21^l “And yet behold, the hand of the one who is to betray me is with me on the table; 22for the Son of Man indeed goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.” 23And they began to debate among themselves who among them would do such a deed.

The Role of the Disciples. 24^* Then an argument broke out among them^m about which of them should be regarded as the greatest. 25^{* n} He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those in authority over them are addressed as ‘Benefactors’; 26but among you it shall not be so. Rather, let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant.^o 27For who is greater: the one seated at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one seated at table? I am among you as the one who serves. 28It is you who have stood by me in my trials; 29and I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me,^p 30that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.^q