Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

118 Oh, thank the Lord, for he’s so good! His loving-kindness is forever.

² Let the congregation of Israel praise him with these same words: “His loving-kindness is forever.”

¹⁴ He is my strength and song in the heat of battle, and now he has given me the victory. ^15-16 Songs of joy at the news of our rescue are sung in the homes of the godly. The strong arm of the Lord has done glorious things! ¹⁷ I shall not die but live to tell of all his deeds. ¹⁸ The Lord has punished me but not handed me over to death.

¹⁹ Open the gates of the Temple^[a]—I will go in and give him my thanks. ²⁰ Those gates are the way into the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there. ²¹ O Lord, thank you so much for answering my prayer and saving me.

²² The stone rejected by the builders has now become the capstone of the arch!^{[b] 23} This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous to see! ²⁴ This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

6 ^1-2 Then David mobilized thirty thousand special troops and led them to Baal-judah to bring home the Ark of the Lord of heaven who is enthroned above the Guardian Angels. ³ The Ark was placed upon a new cart and taken from the hillside home of Abinadab. It was driven by Abinadab’s sons, Uzzah and Ahio. ⁴ Ahio was walking in front ⁵ and was followed by David and the other leaders of Israel, who were joyously waving branches of juniper trees and playing every sort of musical instrument before the Lord—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

⁶ But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark. ⁷ Then the anger of the Lord flared out against Uzzah and he killed him for doing this, so he died there beside the Ark. ⁸ David was angry at what the Lord had done, and named the spot “The Place of Wrath upon Uzzah” (which it is still called to this day).

⁹ David was now afraid of the Lord and asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark home?” ¹⁰ So he decided against taking it into the City of David, but carried it instead to the home of Obed-edom, who had come from Gath. ¹¹ It remained there for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹² When David heard this, he brought the Ark to the City of David with a great celebration. ¹³ After the men who were carrying it had gone six paces, they stopped and waited so that he could sacrifice an ox and a fat lamb. ¹⁴ And David danced before the Lord with all his might and was wearing priests’ clothing.^{[a] 15} So Israel brought home the Ark of the Lord with much shouting and blowing of trumpets.

24 But very early on Sunday morning they took the ointments to the tomb— ² and found that the huge stone covering the entrance had been rolled aside. ³ So they went in—but the Lord Jesus’ body was gone.

⁴ They stood there puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it. Suddenly two men appeared before them, clothed in shining robes so bright their eyes were dazzled. ⁵ The women were terrified and bowed low before them.

Then the men asked, “Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? ^6-7 He isn’t here! He has come back to life again! Don’t you remember what he told you back in Galilee—that the Messiah^[a] must be betrayed into the power of evil men and be crucified and that he would rise again the third day?”

⁸ Then they remembered ⁹ and rushed back to Jerusalem^[b] to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. ¹⁰ (The women who went to the tomb were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James, and several others.) ¹¹ But the story sounded like a fairy tale to the men—they didn’t believe it.

¹² However, Peter ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; and then he went back home again, wondering what had happened.