Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
14 All of us[a] are born of women,
have few days, and are full of turmoil.
2 Like a flower, we[b] bloom, then wither,
flee like a shadow, and don’t last.
(3 Yes, you open your eyes on this one;
you bring me into trial against you.)
4 Who can make pure from impure?
Nobody.
5 If our days are fixed, the number of our months with you,
you set a statute and we can’t exceed it.
6 Look away from us that we may rest,
until we are satisfied like a worker at day’s end.
Trees versus humans
7 Indeed there is hope for a tree.
If it’s cut down and still sprouting
and its shoots don’t fail,
8 if its roots age in the ground
and its stump dies in the dust,
9 at the scent of water, it will bud
and produce sprouts like a plant.
10 But a human dies and lies there;
a person expires, and where is he?
11 Water vanishes from the sea;
a river dries up completely.
12 But a human lies down and doesn’t rise
until the heavens cease;
they don’t get up and awaken from sleep.
Momentary hope
13 I wish you would hide me in the underworld,[c]
conceal me until your anger passes,
set a time for me, and remember me.
14 If people die, will they live again?
All the days of my service I would wait
until my restoration took place.
An individual’s complaint
3 I am someone[a] who saw the suffering caused by God’s[b] angry rod.
2 He drove me away, forced me to walk in darkness, not light.
3 He turned his hand even against me, over and over again, all day long.
4 He wore out my flesh and my skin; he broke my bones.
5 He besieged me, surrounding me with bitterness and weariness.
6 He made me live in dark places like those who’ve been dead a long time.
7 He walled me in so I couldn’t escape; he made my chains heavy.
8 Even though I call out and cry for help, he silences my prayer.
9 He walled in my paths with stonework; he made my routes crooked.
19 The memory of my suffering and homelessness is bitterness and poison.
20 I[a] can’t help but remember and am depressed.
21 I call all this to mind—therefore, I will wait.
Psalm 31
For the music leader. A psalm of David.
31 I take refuge in you, Lord.
Please never let me be put to shame.
Rescue me by your righteousness!
2 Listen closely to me!
Deliver me quickly;
be a rock that protects me;
be a strong fortress that saves me!
3 You are definitely my rock and my fortress.
Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name!
4 Get me out of this net that’s been set for me
because you are my protective fortress.
15 My future is in your hands.
Don’t hand me over to my enemies,
to all who are out to get me!
16 Shine your face on your servant;
save me by your faithful love!
4 Therefore, since Christ suffered as a human, you should also arm yourselves with his way of thinking. This is because whoever suffers is finished with sin. 2 As a result, they don’t live the rest of their human lives in ways determined by human desires but in ways determined by God’s will. 3 You have wasted enough time doing what unbelievers desire—living in their unrestrained immorality and lust, their drunkenness and excessive feasting and wild parties, and their forbidden worship of idols. 4 They think it’s strange that you don’t join in these activities with the same flood of unrestrained wickedness. So they slander you. 5 They will have to reckon with the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 Indeed, this is the reason the good news was also preached to the dead. This happened so that, although they were judged as humans according to human standards, they could live by the Spirit according to divine standards.
7 The end of everything has come. Therefore, be self-controlled and clearheaded so you can pray. 8 Above all, show sincere love to each other, because love brings about the forgiveness of many sins.
Burial
57 That evening a man named Joseph came. He was a rich man from Arimathea who had become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He came to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission to take it. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had carved out of the rock. After he rolled a large stone at the door of the tomb, he went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting in front of the tomb.
Guard at the tomb
62 The next day, which was the day after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate. 63 They said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will arise.’ 64 Therefore, order the grave to be sealed until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people, ‘He’s been raised from the dead.’ This last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate replied, “You have soldiers for guard duty. Go and make it as secure as you know how.” 66 Then they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.
Jesus’ body is buried
38 After this Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take away the body of Jesus. Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one because he feared the Jewish authorities. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and took the body away. 39 Nicodemus, the one who at first had come to Jesus at night, was there too. He brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe, nearly seventy-five pounds in all.[a] 40 Following Jewish burial customs, they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the spices, in linen cloths. 41 There was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish Preparation Day and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus in it.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible