Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Valley of Dried Bones; A Renewed Nation of Israel
37 The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me by the Spirit of Yahweh, and he let me rest[a] in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 And he led me all around[b] over them, and look, very many on the surface of the valley, and look, very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man,[c] can these bones live?” And I said, “Lord Yahweh, you know.” 4 And he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and you must say to them, to the dry bones, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh! 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: “Look! I am bringing into you breath, and you will live! 6 And I will lay on you sinews, and I will let flesh come upon you, and I will cover you over with skin, and I will put breath into you, and you will live, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”’”
7 And I prophesied just as[d] I had been commanded, and there was a sound at my prophesying, and look! A rattling, and they came together—the bones! Bone to its bone! 8 And I looked, and indeed, sinews were on them, and flesh went up,[e] and skin covered over[f] them upward,[g] but breath was not in them. 9 And he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man,[h] and you must say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh from the four winds,[i] “Come, O spirit and breath, on these dead ones, so that they may live!”’” 10 And I prophesied as[j] he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they became alive, and they stood on their feet, a very, very large group.
11 And he said to me, “Son of man,[k] these bones are all of the house of Israel; look! they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is destroyed; we are cut off as far as we are concerned.’[l] 12 Therefore prophesy, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am opening your graves, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel! 13 And you will know that I am Yahweh when I open your graves when I bring you up from your graves, my people! 14 And I will put my breath into you so that you may live, and I will cause you to rest on your soil, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act!”’ declares[m] Yahweh.”
Hope for the Redemption of Yahweh
A song of ascents.[a]
130 Out of the depths I call to you, O Yahweh.
2 “O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications.
3 If you, O Yah,[b] should keep track of[c] iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you is forgiveness,
so that you may be feared.”
5 I await Yahweh; my soul awaits,
and I wait[d] for his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning.
Yes, more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, wait[e] for Yahweh.
For with Yahweh there is loyal love,
and with him there is abundant redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
6 For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mindset of the flesh is enmity toward God, for it is not subjected to the law of God, for it is not able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him[a]. 10 But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ Jesus[b] from the dead will also make alive your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.
Lazarus Dies
11 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 3 So the sisters sent word[a] to him, saying, “Lord, behold, the one whom you love is sick.” 4 And when he[b] heard it,[c] Jesus said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, in order that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 (Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.) 6 So when he heard that he was sick, then he remained in the place where[d] he was two days.
7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were seeking just now to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus replied, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks around in the daylight, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks around in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. 11 He said these things, and after this he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I can awaken him.” 12 So the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” 13 (Now Jesus had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was speaking about real sleep.[e]) 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and I am glad for your sake[f] that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (the one who is called Didymus)[g] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go also, so that we may die with him.”
Jesus the Resurrection and the Life
17 So when he[h] arrived, Jesus found he had already been four days in the tomb. 18 (Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia.[i] 19 So many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary in order to console them concerning their[j] brother.) 20 Now Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 So Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even[k] now I know that whatever you ask God, God will grant you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die forever.[l] Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”
Jesus Weeps
28 And when she[m] had said this, she went and called her sister Mary privately, saying, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 So that one, when she heard it,[n] got up quickly and went to him. 30 (Now Jesus has not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha went to meet him.) 31 So the Jews who were with her in the house and were consoling her, when they[o] saw Mary—that she stood up quickly and went out—followed her, because they[p] thought that she was going to the tomb in order to weep there.
32 Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and[q] saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Then Jesus, when he saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled within himself. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Was not this man who opened the eyes of the blind able to do something[r] so that this man also would not have died?”
Lazarus Is Raised
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved within himself again, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying on it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the one who had died, said to him, “Lord, he is stinking already, because it has been four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his[s] eyes above and said, “Father, I give thanks to you that you hear me. 42 And I know that you always hear me, but for the sake of the crowd standing around I said it,[t] so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 And when he[u] had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The one who had died came out, his[v] feet and his[w] hands bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped with a facecloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”
The Jewish Leaders Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Then many of the Jews who had come with Mary and saw the things which he did believed in him.
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