Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving to God
118 Give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good;
his gracious love is eternal.
2 Let Israel now say,
“His gracious love is eternal.”
14 The Lord is my strength and protector,[a]
for he has become my deliverer.[b]
15 There’s exultation[c] for deliverance in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord is victorious![d]
16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted!
The right hand of the Lord is victorious!”[e]
17 I will not die, but I will live
to recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord will discipline me severely,
but he won’t hand me over to die.
19 Open for me the righteous gates
so I may enter through them to give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate—
The righteous will enter through it.
21 I will praise you because you have answered me
and have become my deliverer.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is from the Lord—
it is awesome in our sight.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let’s rejoice and be glad in it.
The Loved One
3 Night after night on my bed,
I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but didn’t find him.
2 I’ll get up and go all around the city,
throughout the streets, and in the squares.
I’ll seek the one I love.
I sought him, but didn’t find him.
3 The watchmen who go all around the city found me.
I asked,[a] “Have you seen the one I love?”
4 I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held him and wouldn’t let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house,
to the room of the one who conceived me.
5 Swear to me, young women of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or by the does of the field,
that you won’t awaken or arouse love
before its proper time![b]
The Lover Arrives
6 What[c] is this coming up from the desert
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh[d] and incense[e]
from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look! It’s Solomon’s sedan chair,[f]
with 60 of the best soldiers in Israel[g] surrounding it.
8 All of them are wearing swords and are
experienced in battle.
Each has his sword on his thigh,
ready for the terror of the night.[h]
9 King Solomon made the sedan chair for himself
from the trees of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold.
Its seat was purple,
and its interior was lovingly inlaid
by the young women of Jerusalem.
11 Come out, young women of Zion,
and see King Solomon with the crown
with which his mother crowned him
on his wedding day—
his day of great delight.[i]
Jesus is Raised from the Dead(A)
16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene,[a] Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices to go and anoint Jesus.[b] 2 Very early on the first day of the week,[c] when the sun had just come up, they were going to the tomb. 3 They kept saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. (It was a very large stone.)
5 As they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were utterly astonished. 6 But he told them, “Stop being astonished! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He is not here. Look at the place where they laid him. 7 But go and tell his disciples—especially Peter—that Jesus[d] is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”
8 So they left the tomb and ran away, overwhelmed by shock and astonishment. They didn’t say a thing to anyone, because they were afraid.[e]
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