Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God’s Holy Box Is Moved to Jerusalem

6 David again gathered all the best soldiers in Israel. There were 30,000 men. ² Then David and all his men went to Baalah in Judah^[a] to take God’s Holy Box there. The Holy Box is like God’s throne—people go there to call on the name of the Lord All-Powerful who sits as king above the Cherub angels that are on that Box. ³ David’s men brought the Holy Box out of Abinadab’s house on the hill. Then they put God’s Holy Box on a new wagon. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were driving the new wagon.

⁴ So they carried the Holy Box out of Abinadab’s house on the hill. The sons of Abinadab, Uzzah and Ahio, drove the new wagon. Ahio was walking in front of the Holy Box. ⁵ David and all the Israelites were dancing in front of the Lord and playing all kinds of musical instruments. There were lyres, harps, drums, rattles, instruments made from cypress wood, and cymbals. ⁶ When David’s men came to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and God’s Holy Box began to fall off the wagon. Uzzah caught the Holy Box. ⁷ But the Lord was angry with Uzzah and killed him for that mistake. Uzzah showed he did not honor God when he touched the Holy Box, so he died there by God’s Holy Box. ⁸ David was upset because the Lord had killed Uzzah. David called that place “Perez Uzzah.”^[b] It is still called Perez Uzzah today.

⁹ David became afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can I bring God’s Holy Box here now?” ¹⁰ So David would not move the Lord’s Holy Box into the City of David. He put the Holy Box at the house of Obed Edom from Gath.^{[c] 11} The Lord’s Holy Box stayed in Obed Edom’s house for three months. The Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his family.

¹² Later people told David, “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed Edom and everything he owns, because God’s Holy Box is there.” So David went and brought God’s Holy Box from Obed Edom’s house. David was very happy and excited. ¹³ When the men who carried the Lord’s Holy Box had walked six steps, they stopped and David sacrificed a bull and a fat calf. ¹⁴ David was dancing in front of the Lord. He was wearing a linen ephod.

¹⁵ David and all the Israelites were excited—they shouted and blew the trumpet as they brought the Lord’s Holy Box into the city.

News That Jesus Has Risen From Death^(A)

24 Very early Sunday morning, the women came to the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. They brought the sweet-smelling spices they had prepared. ² They saw that the heavy stone that covered the entrance had been rolled away. ³ They went in, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ They did not understand this. While they were wondering about it, two men in shining clothes stood beside them. ⁵ The women were very afraid. They bowed down with their faces to the ground. The men said to them, “Why are you looking for a living person here? This is a place for dead people. ⁶ Jesus is not here. He has risen from death. Do you remember what he said in Galilee? ⁷ He said the Son of Man must be handed over to the control of sinful men, be killed on a cross, and rise from death on the third day.” ⁸ Then the women remembered what Jesus had said.

⁹ The women left the tomb and went to the eleven apostles and the other followers. They told them everything that happened at the tomb. ¹⁰ These women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and some others. They told the apostles everything that happened. ¹¹ But the apostles did not believe what they said. It sounded like nonsense. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb to see. He looked in, but he saw only the cloth that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in. It was just lying there. Peter went away to be alone, wondering what had happened.^[a]