These are the readings for Maundy Thursday. If you wish to see how they fit in the service, turn to page 274 in the Book of Common Prayer.
Collect
Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he
suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood:
Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in
remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy
mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever.
Amen.
A Reading from the Book of Exodus [12:1-14]
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for
you the beginning of months; it shall be the
fi
rst month of the year for you. Tell the
whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb
for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole
lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in
proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish,
a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it
until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of
Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the
two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb
that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the
fi
re with unleavened bread and bitter
herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the
fi
re, with its
head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning;
anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it:
your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you
shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of
Egypt that night, and I will strike down every
fi
rstborn in the land of Egypt, both
human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the
Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the
blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of
Egypt. This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a
festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual
ordinance.
The Word of the Lord.
Psalm 116:1, 10 -17
1
I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of
my supplication, *
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever
I called upon him.
10
How shall I repay the Lord *
for all the good things he has done for me?
11
I will lift up the cup of salvation *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
12
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people.
13
Precious in the sight of the Lord *
is the death of his servants.
14
O Lord, I am your servant; *
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.
15
I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
16
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people,
17
In the courts of the Lord's house, *
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
A Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians [11:23 -26]
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the
night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In
the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant
in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as
you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
The Word of the Lord.
The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to John [13:1-17, 31b -35]
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart
from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he
loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of
Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had
given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,
got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then
he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them
with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
"Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what
I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash
my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon
Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said
to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely
clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him;
for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean." After he had washed their feet, had
put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I
have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord - and you are right, for that is what
I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash
one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have
done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are
messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are
blessed if you do them. Now the Son of Man has been glori
fi
ed, and God has been
glori
fi
ed in him. If God has been glori
fi
ed in him, God will also glorify him in himself
and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You
will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you
cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I
have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you
are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
The Gospel of the Lord