Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer of Thanks for Victory

The Covenant Box Is Brought to Jerusalem^(A)

6 Once more David called together the best soldiers in Israel, a total of thirty thousand men, ^2 (B)and led them to Baalah^[a] in Judah, in order to bring from there God's Covenant Box, bearing the name of the Lord Almighty, whose throne is above the winged creatures.^{[b] 3 (C)}They took it from Abinadab's home on the hill and placed it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart, ⁴ with Ahio walking in front. ⁵ David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might^[c] to honor the Lord. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals.

⁶ As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. ⁷ At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence.^[d] Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box, ⁸ and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah^[e] ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

⁹ Then David was afraid of the Lord and said, “How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?” ¹⁰ So he decided not to take it with him to Jerusalem; instead, he turned off the road and took it to the house of Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. ^11 (D)It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and his family.

¹² King David heard that because of the Covenant Box the Lord had blessed Obed Edom's family and all that he had; so he got the Covenant Box from Obed's house to take it to Jerusalem with a great celebration. ¹³ After the men carrying the Covenant Box had gone six steps, David had them stop while he offered the Lord a sacrifice of a bull and a fattened calf. ¹⁴ David, wearing only a linen cloth around his waist, danced with all his might to honor the Lord. ¹⁵ And so he and all the Israelites took the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy and the sound of trumpets.

The Resurrection^(A)

24 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared. ² They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb, ³ so they went in; but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by them. ⁵ Full of fear, the women bowed down to the ground, as the men said to them, “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? ^6 (B)He is not here; he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and three days later rise to life.’”

⁸ Then the women remembered his words, ⁹ returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven disciples and all the rest. ¹⁰ The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; they and the other women with them told these things to the apostles. ¹¹ But the apostles thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; he bent down and saw the grave cloths but nothing else. Then he went back home amazed at what had happened.^[a]