Shemot, Shemoth, or Shemos (שמות — Hebrew for “names,” the second word, and first distinctive word, of the parsha) is the thirteenth weekly Torah portion (parsha) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the first in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 1:1–6:1. Jews in the Diaspora read it the thirteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in late December or January.