[Propertalk] READINGS for EASTER SUNDAY

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Easter Sunday, April 4, according to 
the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman Catholic, Canadian BAS, 
Canadian (ACC) variant of the RCL, and the Church of England (Common 
Worship) lectionaries. All readings are taken from the New Revised Standard 
Version (NRSV) of the Bible. Unless noted otherwise, the ECUSA, Canadian and 
C of E lectionaries are identical to the RCL for this day.

NOTE: At least for the ECUSA, the following readings are for the principal 
service only.



FIRST READING: Acts 10: 34 - 43   (all)

Acts 10:34 (NRSV) Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand 
that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him 
and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent 
to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. 
37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the 
baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the 
Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who 
were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to 
all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by 
hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed 
him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as 
witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He 
commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one 
ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets 
testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of 
sins through his name."

Note: the Roman Catholic lectionary omits vs. 34b-36.


Isaiah 65: 17 - 25   (alt. for RCL)

Isai 65:17 (NRSV) For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity; Or [sudden terror]}
for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD-- 
and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent--its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
qsays the LORD.


PSALM 118: 1 - 2, 14 - 24   (RCL)
               118: 1 - 2, 16 - 17, 22 - 23   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 118:1 (NRSV) O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,
"His steadfast love endures forever."

14 The LORD is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
"The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;
16 the right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD does valiantly."
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
18 The LORD has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the LORD's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.


SECOND READING:  1 Corinthians 15: 19 - 26   (RCL)

1Cor 15:19 (NRSV) If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of 
all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of 
those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human being, the 
resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all 
die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in his own 
order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to 
Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the 
Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25 
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The 
last enemy to be destroyed is death.


Colossians 3: 1 - 4   (Roman Catholic)

Colo 3:1 (NRSV) So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that 
are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your 
minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you 
have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is 
your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.


Acts 10: 34 - 43   (alt. for RCL)

[If not previously used; see above for text]


1 Corinthians 5: 6b - 8   (alt. for Roman Catholic)

1Cor 5:6 (NRSV)  Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch 
of dough? 7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you 
really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. 8 
Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast 
of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.


GOSPEL:   John 20: 1 - 18   (RCL)
                     John 20: 1 - 9   (Roman Catrholic)

John 20:1 (NRSV) Early on the first day of the week, while it was still 
dark, Mary Mag'dalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been 
removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other 
disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the 
Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." 3 Then 
Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two 
were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the 
tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying 
there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and 
went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth 
that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled 
up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb 
first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not 
understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the 
disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to 
look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the 
body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 
They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have 
taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 When she 
had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did 
not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you 
weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she 
said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid 
him, and I will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and 
said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbou'ni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to 
her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. 
But go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to my Father and your 
Father, to my God and your God.'" 18 Mary Mag'dalene went and announced to 
the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said 
these things to her.


Luke 24: 1 - 12   (alt. for ECUSA, C of E)
Luke 24: 1 - 9   (alt. for Can. BAS)

Luke 24:1 (NRSV) But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came 
to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the 
stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find 
the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in 
dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed 
their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for 
the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.6 Remember how he 
told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be 
handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." 
8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told 
all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Mag'dalene, 
Joan'na, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told 
this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and 
they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping 
and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, 
amazed at what had happened.