Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God’s Deliverance of Israel from Egypt.

Jonah’s Disobedience

1 The word of the Lord came to ^(A)Jonah the son of Amittai saying, ² “Arise, go to ^(B)Nineveh the great city and ^(C)cry against it, for their ^(D)wickedness has come up before Me.” ³ But Jonah rose up to flee to ^(E)Tarshish ^(F)from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to ^(G)Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

⁴ The ^(H)Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to ^[a]break up. ⁵ Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to ^(I)his god, and they ^(J)threw the ^[b]cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it ^[c]for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. ⁶ So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, ^(K)call on your god. Perhaps your ^(L)god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

⁷ Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us ^(M)cast lots so we may ^[d]learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the ^(N)lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ Then they said to him, “^(O)Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your ^(P)occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” ⁹ He said to them, “I am a ^(Q)Hebrew, and I ^(R)fear the Lord ^(S)God of heaven who ^(T)made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “^[e]How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was ^(U)fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. ¹¹ So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm ^[f]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. ¹² He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm ^[g]for you, for I know that ^(V)on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” ¹³ However, the men ^[h]rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. ¹⁴ Then they called on the ^(W)Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for ^(X)You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”

¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea ^(Y)stopped its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made ^(Z)vows.

^17 [i]And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the ^(AA)stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

¹⁹ If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are ^(A)of all men most to be pitied.

The Order of Resurrection

²⁰ But now Christ ^(B)has been raised from the dead, the ^(C)first fruits of those who ^(D)are asleep. ²¹ For since ^(E)by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For ^(F)as in Adam all die, so also in ^[a]Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ ^(G)the first fruits, after that ^(H)those who are Christ’s at ^(I)His coming, ²⁴ then comes the end, when He hands over ^(J)the kingdom to the ^(K)God and Father, when He has abolished ^(L)all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign ^(M)until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that will be ^(N)abolished is death. ²⁷ For ^(O)He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “^(P)All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. ²⁸ When ^(Q)all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that ^(R)God may be all in all.