Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for Victory
118 ·Thank [Praise] the Lord because he is good.
His ·love [loyalty] ·continues [endures] forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His ·love [loyalty] ·continues [endures] forever.”
14 The Lord ·gives me strength and a song [L is my strength and song/or might].
He has ·saved me [given me victory].
15 Shouts of joy and victory
come from the tents of ·those who do right [the righteous]:
“The right hand of the Lord has done powerful things.”
16 The ·power [L right hand] of the Lord ·has won the victory [is exalted];
with his ·power [L right hand] the Lord has done powerful things.
17 I will not die, but live,
and I will ·tell [recount] what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has ·taught me a hard lesson [L surely disciplined/instructed me],
but he did not ·let me die [L give me over to death].
19 Open for me the ·Temple gates [L gates of righteousness].
Then I will come in and ·thank [praise] the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate;
only ·those who are good [the righteous] may enter through it [15; 24:3–6].
21 Lord, I ·thank [praise] you for answering me.
You have ·saved me [given me victory].
22 The stone that the builders rejected
became the chief cornerstone [Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:7].
23 ·The Lord did this [L This is from the Lord],
and it is wonderful ·to us [L in our eyes; Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:10–11].
24 This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad ·today [L in it]!
Crossing the Jordan
3 Early the next morning Joshua and all the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] left ·Acacia [C Hebrew: Shittim; 2:1]. They traveled to the Jordan River and camped there before crossing it. 2 After three days the ·officers [leaders] went through the camp 3 and gave orders to the people: “When you see the priests and Levites carrying the Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord your God [Ex. 25:10–22], leave where you are and follow it. 4 That way you will know which way to go since you have never ·been here [passed this way] before. But do not ·follow too closely [come near it]. Stay about ·a thousand yards [L two thousand cubits] behind the Ark.”
5 Then Joshua told the people, “·Make yourselves holy [Consecrate yourselves], because tomorrow the Lord will do ·amazing [miraculous] things among you.”
6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] and go ahead of the people.” So the priests lifted the Ark and carried it ahead of the people.
7 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to ·make you great [exalt/honor you] in the ·opinion [L eyes] of all the Israelites so the people will know I am with you just as I was with Moses. 8 ·Tell [Command] the priests who carry the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] to go to the edge of the Jordan River and stand in the water.”
9 Then Joshua said to the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 Here is proof that the living God is ·with [among] you and that he will ·force [drive] out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 11 [L Look; T Behold] The Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord of the whole world will go ahead of you into the Jordan River. 12 Now choose twelve men from among you, one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the ·Master [Ruler; Lord] of the whole world [Ex. 9:29], into the Jordan ahead of you. When they step into the water, it will stop. The ·river will stop flowing [L waters going down will be cut off from above] and will stand up in a heap [C thus reminding them of the crossing of the sea in Ex. 14].”
14 So the people left ·the place where they had camped [their camp/L tents], and they followed the priests who carried the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] across the Jordan River. 15 During harvest the Jordan overflows its banks. When the priests carrying the Ark came to the edge of the river and stepped into the water, 16 the water ·upstream [L going down from above] stopped flowing. It stood up in a heap a great distance away at Adam, a town near Zarethan. The water flowing down to the Sea of Arabah (the ·Dead [L Salt] Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed the river ·near [opposite; across from] Jericho. 17 The priests carried the Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord to the middle of the river and stood there on dry ground. They waited there while ·all the people [the whole nation] of Israel walked across the Jordan River on dry land.
Jesus Rises from the Dead(A)
28 After the Sabbath day, at dawn on the first day the week, Mary Magdalene and ·another woman named Mary [L the other Mary; 27:56] went to look at the tomb.
2 ·At that time [Suddenly; T And behold] there was a strong earthquake. [L For] An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone. 3 ·He was shining as bright as [L His appearance was like] lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they ·became like dead men [C perhaps they were paralyzed by fear, or they fainted].
5 The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here. He has ·risen [been raised] from the dead as he said he would. Come and see the place where ·his body was [he lay]. 7 And go quickly and tell his ·followers [disciples], ‘Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “·Now [L Look; T Behold] I have told you.”
8 The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also ·very happy [filled with great joy]. They ran to tell Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] what had happened. 9 ·Suddenly [L And look/T behold], Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.” The women came up to him, ·took hold of [clasped] his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my ·followers [disciples] to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there.”
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