¹⁴ “Return,^(A) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.^(B) I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ Then I will give you shepherds^(C) after my own heart,^(D) who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶ In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark^(E) of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;^(F) it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. ¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne^(G) of the Lord, and all nations^(H) will gather in Jerusalem to honor^(I) the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^{(J) 18} In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,^(K) and together^(L) they will come from a northern^(M) land to the land^(N) I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

¹⁸ “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom^(A) and does not understand it, the evil one^(B) comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.^{(C) 22} The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth^(D) choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”^(E)

BOOK II

Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42^[a][b]

For the director of music. A maskil^[c] of the Sons of Korah.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb^{(A) 12} and saw two angels in white,^(B) seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”^(C)

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”^{(D) 14} At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,^(E) but she did not realize that it was Jesus.^(F)

¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?^(G) Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,^(H) “Rabboni!”^(I) (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers^(J) and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father^(K) and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene^(L) went to the disciples^(M) with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.