Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

37 The ^(A)hand of the Lord was upon me, and He ^(B)brought me out ^[a]by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the ^(C)valley; and it was full of bones. ² He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Son of man, ^(D)can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord ^[b]God, ^(E)You know.” ⁴ Again He said to me, “^(F)Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, ^(G)hear the word of the Lord.’ ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause ^[c](H)breath to enter you that you may come to life. ⁶ I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will ^(I)know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied ^(J)as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a ^[d]noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and ^(K)breathe on these slain, that they ^(L)come to life.”’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the ^(M)breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an ^(N)exceedingly great army.

The Vision Explained

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the ^(O)whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our ^(P)bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are ^[e]completely ^(Q)cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and ^(R)cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. ¹⁴ I will ^(S)put My ^[f]Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”

Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.

A Song of Ascents.

^6 (A)For the mind set on the flesh is ^(B)death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind set on the flesh is ^(C)hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are ^(D)in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ However, you are not ^(E)in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God ^(F)dwells in you. But ^(G)if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. ^10 (H)If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is ^[a]alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who ^(I)raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, ^(J)He who raised ^(K)Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^[b]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of ^(A)Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister ^(B)Martha. ² It was the Mary who ^(C)anointed ^(D)the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “^(E)Lord, behold, ^(F)he whom You love is sick.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for ^(G)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” ⁵ Now Jesus loved ^(H)Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He *said to the disciples, “^(I)Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples *said to Him, “^(J)Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking ^(K)to stone You, and are You going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “^(L)Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ This He said, and after that He *said to them, “Our ^(M)friend Lazarus ^(N)has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” ¹² The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will ^[a]recover.” ¹³ Now ^(O)Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of ^[b]literal sleep. ¹⁴ So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵ and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” ^16 (P)Therefore Thomas, who is called ^[c](Q)Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb ^(R)four days. ¹⁸ Now ^(S)Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[d]two miles off; ¹⁹ and many of ^(T)the Jews had come to ^(U)Martha and Mary, ^(V)to console them concerning their brother. ^20 (W)Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but ^(X)Mary ^[e]stayed at the house. ²¹ Martha then said to Jesus, “^(Y)Lord, ^(Z)if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² Even now I know that ^(AA)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” ²³ Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha *said to Him, “^(AB)I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “^(AC)I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me ^(AD)will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are ^[f](AE)the Christ, the Son of God, even ^[g](AF)He who comes into the world.”

²⁸ When she had said this, she ^(AG)went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “^(AH)The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she *got up quickly and was coming to Him.

³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but ^(AI)was still in the place where Martha met Him. ^31 (AJ)Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and ^(AK)consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “^(AL)Lord, ^(AM)if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and ^(AN)the Jews who came with her also weeping, He ^(AO)was deeply moved in spirit and ^[h](AP)was troubled, ³⁴ and said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus ^(AQ)wept. ³⁶ So ^(AR)the Jews were saying, “See how He ^(AS)loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not this man, who ^(AT)opened the eyes of the blind man, ^[i]have kept this man also from dying?”

³⁸ So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a ^(AU)cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time ^[j]there will be a stench, for he has been dead ^(AV)four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus *said to her, “^(AW)Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they removed the ^(AX)stone. Then Jesus ^(AY)raised His eyes, and said, “^(AZ)Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² I knew that You always hear Me; but ^(BA)because of the ^[k]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that ^(BB)You sent Me.” ⁴³ When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came forth, ^(BC)bound hand and foot with wrappings, and ^(BD)his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

^45 (BE)Therefore many of the Jews ^(BF)who came to Mary, and ^(BG)saw what He had done, believed in Him.