Psalm 118

Consecration of the Firstborn

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Consecrate to me every firstborn male.^(A) The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

¹¹ “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites^(A) and gives it to you, as he promised on oath^(B) to you and your ancestors,^{(C) 12} you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord.^{(D) 13} Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey,^(E) but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.^(F) Redeem^(G) every firstborn among your sons.^(H)

¹⁴ “In days to come, when your son^(I) asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.^{(J) 15} When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’^{(K) 16} And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead^(L) that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery:^(A) We will not all sleep,^(B) but we will all be changed^(C)— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,^(D) the dead^(E) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable^(F) must clothe itself with the imperishable,^(G) and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[a](H)

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin,^(J) and the power of sin is the law.^{(K) 57} But thanks be to God!^(L) He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.^(M)

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,^(N) because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.^(O)

Jesus Has Risen^(A)

24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared^(B) and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.^{(C) 4} While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning^(D) stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:^{(E) 7} ‘The Son of Man^(F) must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”^{(G) 8} Then they remembered his words.^(H)

⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them^(I) who told this to the apostles.^{(J) 11} But they did not believe^(K) the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves,^(L) and he went away,^(M) wondering to himself what had happened.