The Season of Lent. Scripture Selections from the Evangelical Heritage Version following the Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A

Transcription

1 The Season of Lent Scripture Selections from the Evangelical Heritage Version following the Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A Revised March 2, 2017

2 Ash Wednesday Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A Evangelical Heritage Version Old Testament / First Reading Joel 2: Even now, declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. 13 Tear your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and he relents from sending disaster. 14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. 15 Blow the ram s horn in Zion. Set aside a day of fasting. Call a solemn convocation. 16 Gather the people. Consecrate the assembly. Bring together the elders. Gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. 17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God? 18 Then the LORD will be zealous for his land and take pity on his people. 19 The LORD will respond to them: I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully. Never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.

3 Epistle / Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 We urge you, on Christ s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 6:1 As fellow workers we also urge you not to receive God s grace in vain. 2 For he says: At a favorable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. Look, now is the favorable time! See, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are giving no one a reason to stumble in any way, so that our ministry will not be blamed. 4 Rather, in every way we show ourselves to be God s ministers: in great endurance, in troubles, in hardships, in difficulties, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in hard work, in sleepless nights, in times of hunger; 6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, 7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, through bad report and good report; treated as deceivers yet being honest, 9 treated as unknown and yet being well known; as dying, and yet look we live; as punished yet not put to death; 10 as grieving yet always rejoicing; as poor yet making many rich; as having nothing yet possessing everything. Holy Gospel Matthew 6:1-6, Be careful that you do not do your righteous works in front of people, so that they will notice. If you do, you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 So whenever you perform acts of mercy, do not sound a trumpet for yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be praised by people. Amen a I tell you: They have received their reward. 3 Instead, when you perform acts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Then your acts of mercy will be in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 5 Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by people. Amen I tell you: They have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your private room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what others cannot see, will reward you. 16 Whenever you fast, do not make yourself look sad like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show everyone that they are fasting. Amen I tell you: They have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that it is not apparent to people that you are fasting, but only to your Father who sees what is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 19 Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust do a Usually, people say Amen at the end of a prayer. But Jesus used this Hebrew word at the beginning of a statement, which was unique. The inspired writer simply transliterated the Hebrew word that Jesus spoke, instead of using a Greek term. This translation does the same in English. The basic meaning is I solemnly tell you the truth. For more information about this, see FAQ #1 at wartburgproject.org/faqs

4 not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV ) copyright 2017 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/ Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

5 The First Sunday in Lent Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A Evangelical Heritage Version Old Testament / First Reading Genesis 3:1-21 Now the serpent was more clever than any wild animal which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, Has God really said, You shall not eat from any tree in the garden? 2 The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 but not from the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. God has said, You shall not eat from it. You shall not touch it, or else you will die. 4 The serpent said to the woman, You certainly will not die. 5 In fact, God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was appealing to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She gave some also to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for their waists. 8 They heard the voice of the LORD God, who was walking around in the garden during the cooler part of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 The LORD God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? 10 The man said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself. 11 God said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat? 12 The man said, The woman you gave to be with me she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it. 13 The LORD God said to the woman, What have you done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. 14 The LORD God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the livestock, and more than every wild animal. You shall crawl on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel. 16 To the woman he said: I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing.

6 With painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, but he will rule over you. 17 To Adam he said: Because you listened to your wife s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it, the soil is cursed on account of you. You will eat from it with painful labor all the days of your life. 18 Thorns and thistles will spring up from the ground for you, but you will eat the crops of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the soil, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. 20 The man named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. 21 The LORD God made clothing of animal skins for Adam and for his wife and clothed them. Epistle / Second Reading Romans 5: So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned. 13 For even before the law was given, sin was in the world. Now, sin is not charged to one s account if there is no law, 14 and yet death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those whose sin was not like the transgression of Adam, who is a pattern of the one who was to come. 15 But the gracious gift is not like Adam s trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, it is even more certain that God s grace, and the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many! 16 And the gift is not like the effect of the one man s sin, for the judgment that followed the one trespass resulted in a verdict of condemnation, but the gracious gift that followed many trespasses resulted in a verdict of justification. 17 Indeed, if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, it is even more certain that those who receive the overflowing grace of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ! 18 So then, just as one trespass led to a verdict of condemnation for all people, so also one righteous verdict led to life-giving justification for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of one man the many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will become righteous.

7 Holy Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The Tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread. 4 But Jesus answered, It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the Devil took him into the holy city. He placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and he said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you. And they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said to him, Again, it is written: You shall not test the Lord your God. 8 Again the Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 He said to him, I will give you all of these things, if you will bow down and worship me. 10 Then Jesus said to him, Go away, Satan! For it is written, Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. 11 Then the Devil left him, and just then angels came and served him. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV ) copyright 2017 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/ Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

8 The Second Sunday in Lent Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A Evangelical Heritage Version Old Testament / First Reading Genesis 12:1-9 Now the LORD said to Abram, Get out of your country and away from your relatives and from your father s house and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse anyone who dishonors you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you. 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother s son, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to travel to the land of Canaan. Eventually they arrived in the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land until he came to the Oak of Moreh at the place called Shechem. The Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, I will give this land to your descendants. Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent there, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 9 Abram pulled out from there and kept traveling toward the Negev. Epistle / Second Reading Romans 4:1-8, What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered according to the flesh? 2 If indeed Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had a reason to boast but not before God. 3 For what does Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. 4 Now to a person who works, his pay is not counted as a gift but as something owed. 5 But to the person who does not work but believes in the God who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness. 6 This is exactly what David says about the blessed state of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. 13 Indeed, the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not given to Abraham or his descendants through the law, but through the righteousness that is by faith. 14 To be sure, if people are heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 15 For law brings wrath. (Where there is no law, there is no transgression.) 16 For this reason, the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham s descendants not only to the one

9 who is a descendant by law, but also to the one who has the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: I have made you a father of many nations. Holy Gospel John 3:1-17 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him. 3 Jesus replied, Amen, Amen, a I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother s womb and be born, can he? 5 Jesus answered, Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God! 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above. 8 The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. 9 How can these things be? asked Nicodemus. 10 You are the teacher of Israel, Jesus answered, and you do not know these things? 11 Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV ) copyright 2017 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/ Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. a Usually, people say Amen at the end of a prayer. But Jesus used this Hebrew word at the beginning of a statement, which was unique. The inspired writer simply transliterated the Hebrew word that Jesus spoke, instead of using a Greek term. This translation does the same in English. The basic meaning is I solemnly tell you the truth. For more information about this, see FAQ #1 at wartburgproject.org/faqs

10 The Third Sunday in Lent Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A Evangelical Heritage Version Old Testament / First Reading Exodus 17:1-7 The entire Israelite community set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin as the LORD had commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. Moses said to them, Why are you quarreling with me? Why are you testing the LORD? 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, so they grumbled against Moses. They said, Why did you ever bring us up out of Egypt to let us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst? 4 Moses cried out to the LORD, What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me! 5 The LORD said to Moses, Go in front of the people, and take the elders of Israel with you. Also take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Watch me. I will stand there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will come out of it, and the people will drink. Moses did that in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He named the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD by saying, Is the LORD among us or not? Epistle / Second Reading Romans 5:1-8 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, 4 and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope. 5 And hope will not put us to shame, because God s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. 6 For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Holy Gospel John 4:5-26 (27-30, 39-42) 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob s well was there. Then Jesus, being tired from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

11 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. 8 (His disciples had gone into town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. 11 Sir, she said, you don t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his animals. 13 Jesus answered her, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life. 15 Sir, give me this water, the woman said to him, so I won t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water. 16 Jesus told her, Go, call your husband, and come back here. 17 I have no husband, the woman answered. Jesus said to her, You are right when you say, I have no husband. 18 In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true. 19 Sir, the woman replied, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews insist that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. 21 Jesus said to her, Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But a time is coming and now is here when the real worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for those are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming (the one called Christ). When he comes, he will explain everything to us. 26 Jesus said to her, I, the one speaking to you, am he. 27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised that he was talking to a woman. Yet no one asked, What do you want? or Why are you talking to her? 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back into town. She said to the people, 29 Come, see the man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ? 30 They left the town and came to him. 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman s testimony: He told me everything I ever did. 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of his message. 42 They told the woman, We no longer believe because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves. And we know that this really is the Savior of the world. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV ) copyright 2017 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.

12 Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/ Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

13 The Fourth Sunday in Lent Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A Evangelical Heritage Version Old Testament / First Reading Isaiah 42: I have been silent for a long time. I have kept still. I have restrained myself. Like a woman giving birth, I will scream. I will gasp and pant. 15 I will dry up mountains and hills. I will make all their grass wither. I will turn rivers into islands. I will dry up pools. 16 I will lead the blind on a way they do not know. Along paths they do not know I will direct them. Ahead of them I will turn darkness into light and rough places into level ground. These are the promises I will accomplish for them. I will not abandon them. 17 They will be turned back and be completely disgraced those who trust in an idol, those who say to molten images, You are our gods. 18 You deaf ones, listen! You blind ones, watch carefully so you can see! 19 Who is so blind as my servant or so deaf as my messenger whom I sent? Who is so blind as my covenant partner and so blind as the servant of the LORD? 20 You see many things, but you do not observe. He opens his ears, but he does not hear. 21 Because of his righteousness the LORD was pleased to make his law great and glorious. Epistle / Second Reading Ephesians 5: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, 9 for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. 10 Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, 11 and do not participate in fruitless deeds of darkness. Instead, expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention the things that are done by people in secret. 13 But everything exposed by

14 the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes things visible. 14 Therefore it is said, Awake, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Holy Gospel John 9:1-41 As Jesus was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that God s works might be revealed in connection with him. 4 I must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the World. 6 After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the man s eyes. 7 Go, Jesus told him, wash in the pool of Siloam (which means Sent ). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had seen him before this as a beggar asked, Isn t this the one who used to sit and beg? 9 Some said, He is the one. Others said, No, but he looks like him. He kept saying, I am the one! 10 So they asked him, How were your eyes opened? 11 He answered, The man who is called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, Go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see. 12 Where is he? they asked. I don t know, he said. 13 They brought this man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He put mud on my eyes, the man told them. I washed, and now I see. 16 Then some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. Others were saying, How can a sinful man work such miraculous signs? There was division among them, 17 so they said to the blind man again, What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes? The man replied, He is a prophet. 18 The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and received his sight, until they summoned the parents of the man who had received his sight. 19 They asked them, Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How is it, then, that he can see now? 20 We know that this is our son, his parents answered, and that he was born blind. 21 But we do not know how he can see now, or who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is old enough. He will speak for himself. 22 His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That is why his parents said, He is old enough. Ask him. 24 So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind. They told him, Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.

15 25 He answered, I do not know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I see. 26 Then they asked him, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? 27 He answered, I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don t want to become his disciples too, do you? 28 They ridiculed him and said, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man we do not know where he comes from. 30 That s amazing! the man answered. You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. But he does listen to anyone who worships God and does his will. 32 From the beginning of time, no one has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. 34 They answered him, You were entirely born in sinfulness! Yet you presume to teach us? And they threw him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. When he found him, he asked, Do you believe in the Son of God? 36 Who is he, sir, the man replied, that I may believe in him? 37 Jesus answered, You have seen him, and he is the very one who is speaking with you. 38 Then he said, Lord, I believe! and he knelt down and worshipped him. 39 Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world, in order that those who do not see will see, and those who do see will become blind. 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and asked, We are not blind too, are we? 41 Jesus told them, If you were blind, you would not hold on to sin. But now that you say, We see, your sin remains. or John 9:1-7, 13-17, As Jesus was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that God s works might be revealed in connection with him. 4 I must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the World. 6 After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the man s eyes. 7 Go, Jesus told him, wash in the pool of Siloam (which means Sent ). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. 13 They brought this man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He put mud on my eyes, the man told them. I washed, and now I see. 16 Then some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. Others were saying, How can a sinful man work such miraculous signs? There was division among them, 17 so they said to the blind man again, What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?

16 The man replied, He is a prophet. 34 They answered him, You were entirely born in sinfulness! Yet you presume to teach us? And they threw him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. When he found him, he asked, Do you believe in the Son of God? 36 Who is he, sir, the man replied, that I may believe in him? 37 Jesus answered, You have seen him, and he is the very one who is speaking with you. 38 Then he said, Lord, I believe! and he knelt down and worshipped him. 39 Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world, in order that those who do not see will see, and those who do see will become blind. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV ) copyright 2017 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/ Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

17 The Fifth Sunday in Lent Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A Evangelical Heritage Version Old Testament / First Reading Ezekiel 37:1-14 The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them on all sides. There were very many on the valley floor, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, Son of man, can these dry bones come back to life? And I answered, LORD God, you know. 4 Then he said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 This is what the LORD God says to these bones: I am about to make breath enter you so you will come back to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you. I will put flesh on you. I will cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you will come back to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I was prophesying there was a noise, in fact, a rattling, as the bones came together, as each bone connected to the right bone. 8 As I watched, tendons appeared on them, then flesh came on them, and he covered them over with skin from above. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind that this is what the LORD God says: From the four winds, come, O breath, and blow into these slain that they may come back to life. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me. Breath entered them, and they came back to life. They stood on their feet, a very, very large army. 11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They are saying, Our bones are dried up. Our hope is lost. We have been completely cut off. 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them that this is what the LORD God says. I am going to open your graves and raise you up from your graves, O my people, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the LORD when I open your graves and when I raise you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will come back to life. I will settle you on your own land, and you will know that I am the LORD. What I have spoken I will do, declares the LORD. Epistle / Second Reading Romans 8:1-11 So then, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 Indeed, what the law was unable to do, because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, when he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin. God condemned sin in his flesh, 4 so that the righteous decree of the law would be fully satisfied in us who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 5 To be sure, those who are in harmony with the sinful flesh think about things the way the sinful flesh does, and those in harmony with the spirit think about things the way the spirit does. 6 Now, the

18 way the sinful flesh thinks results in death, but the way the spirit thinks results in life and peace. 7 For the mind-set of the sinful flesh is hostile to God, since it does not submit to God s law, and in fact, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the sinful flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the sinful flesh but in the spirit, if indeed God s Spirit lives in you. And if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that person does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you. Holy Gospel John 11:1-45 (46-53) Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was the same Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, saying, Lord, the one you love is sick! 4 When Jesus heard it, he said, This sickness is not going to result in death, but it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed in the place where he was two more days. 7 Then afterwards he said to his disciples, Let s go back to Judea. 8 The disciples said to him, Rabbi, recently the Jews were trying to stone you. And you are going back there again? 9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks around during the day, he does not stumble because he sees this world s light. 10 But if anyone walks around at night, he stumbles because there is no light on him. 11 He said this and then told them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up. 12 Then the disciples said, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well. 13 Jesus had been speaking about his death, but they thought he was merely talking about ordinary sleep. 14 So Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. 16 Then Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow disciples, Let s go too, so that we may die with him. 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. 23 Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again.

19 24 Martha replied, I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the Last Day. 25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. 26 And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. Do you believe this? 27 Yes, Lord, she told him. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world. 28 After she said this, Martha went back to call her sister Mary. She whispered, The Teacher is here and is calling for you. 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet gone into the village, but was still where Martha met him. 31 The Jews who were with Mary in the house consoling her saw that she got up quickly and left. So they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. 34 He asked, Where have you laid him? They told him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, See how he loved him! 37 But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? 38 Jesus was deeply moved again as he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Take away the stone, he said. Martha, the dead man s sister, told him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, because it has been four days. 40 Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? 41 So they took away the stone. Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me. 43 After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44 The man who had died came out with his feet and his hands bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus told them, Loose him and let him go. 45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. They asked, What are we going to do, because this man is doing many miraculous signs? 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all. 50 You do not even consider that it is better for us that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. 51 He did not say this on his own, but, as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not only for that nation, but also in order to gather into one the scattered children of God. 53 So from that day on they plotted to kill him.

20 or John 11:17-27, When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. 23 Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. 24 Martha replied, I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the Last Day. 25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. 26 And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. Do you believe this? 27 Yes, Lord, she told him. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world. 38 Jesus was deeply moved again as he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Take away the stone, he said. Martha, the dead man s sister, told him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, because it has been four days. 40 Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? 41 So they took away the stone. Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me. 43 After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44 The man who had died came out with his feet and his hands bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus told them, Loose him and let him go. 45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. They asked, What are we going to do, because this man is doing many miraculous signs? 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all. 50 You do not even consider that it is better for us that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. 51 He did not say this on his own, but, as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not only for that nation, but also in order to gather into one the scattered children of God. 53 So from that day on they plotted to kill him. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV ) copyright 2017 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/ Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

21 The Sixth Sunday in Lent Palm Sunday Procession, Sunday of the Passion Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year A Evangelical Heritage Version Old Testament / First Reading Isaiah 50:4-9a 4 The LORD God gave me a tongue like the learned, so I know how to assist the weary with a word. He wakes me up morning by morning. He awakens my ear so I listen like the learned. 5 The LORD God opened my ear, and I myself was not rebellious. I did not turn back. 6 I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who pull out my beard. I did not hide my face from disgrace and spit. 7 The LORD God will help me, so I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint. I know that I will not be put to shame. 8 The one who acquits me is near! Who can accuse me? Let us take our stand. Who can pass judgment on me? Let him approach me. 9 Look, the LORD God will help me. Who then can declare me guilty? Look, all of them will wear out like a garment. A moth will consume them. Epistle / Second Reading Philippians 2: Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 6 Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, 7 but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

22 Holy Gospel John 12: The next day, the large crowd that had come for the Festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 Taking palm branches, they went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord the King of Israel! 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written: 15 Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look! Your King is coming, seated on a donkey s colt. 16 At first, his disciples did not understand these things. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him, and that they did these things for him. 17 The crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead kept telling what they had seen. 18 This is another reason a crowd met him: They heard he had done this miraculous sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, You see? You are accomplishing nothing. Look! The world has gone after him. or Matthew 26:1-27:66 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 You know that after two days it will be the Passover, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified. 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas. 4 They plotted together how to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, Not during the Festival, or else there might be a riot among the people. 6 When Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman approached him holding an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 But when his disciples saw this, they were upset and said, Why this waste? 9 This perfume could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor. 10 Jesus was aware of this and said to them, Why are you causing trouble for this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 11 You are always going to have the poor with you, but you are not always going to have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Amen a I tell you: Wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her. 14 Then one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you? They paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From that time on Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. a Usually, people say Amen at the end of a prayer. But Jesus used this Hebrew word at the beginning of a statement, which was unique. The inspired writer simply transliterated the Hebrew word that Jesus spoke, instead of using a Greek term. This translation does the same in English. The basic meaning is I solemnly tell you the truth. For more information about this, see FAQ #1 at wartburgproject.org/faqs

23 17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover? 18 He said, Go into the city to a certain man and tell him the Teacher says, My time is near. I will observe the Passover with my disciples at your house. 19 The disciples did as Jesus commanded them and prepared the Passover. 20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 As they were eating, he said, Amen I tell you: One of you will betray me. 22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after another, Surely, not I, Lord? 23 He replied, The one who dipped his hand in the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man is going just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born. 25 Judas, who betrayed him, replied, Surely, not I, Rabbi? He said to him, Yes, you are the one. 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples. He said, Take, eat, this is my body. 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father s kingdom. 30 After they sang a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, This night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. 32 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. 33 Peter answered him, Even if all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. 34 Jesus said to him, Amen I tell you: Tonight before the rooster crows you will deny me three times. 35 Peter said to him, Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you. And all the disciples said the same. 36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane. He told his disciples, Sit here, while I go over there and pray. 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be sorrowful and distressed. 38 Then he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to the point of death. Stay here, and keep watch with me. 39 He went a little farther, fell on his face, and prayed. He said, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. 40 He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, So, were you not able to stay awake with me for one hour? 41 Watch and pray, so that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42 He went away a second time and prayed, My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to pass from me unless I drink it, may your will be done. 43 Again he returned and found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time. He said the same words as before. 45 Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise. Let us go. Look, my betrayer is near.