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Fifth Sunday in Lent |
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O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of
sinful men: Grant unto thy people that they may love the thing which thou
commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the
sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be
fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for
ever. Amen. |
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Lesson |
Ezekiel 37:1-3(4-10)11-14
The Valley of Dry Bones
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the
LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And
he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the
valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can
these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, thou knowest." Again he said
to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word
of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause
breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and
will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath
in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD." So I
prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and
behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And as I
looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin
had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me,
"Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus
says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon
these slain, that they may live." So I prophesied as he commanded me, and
the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an
exceedingly great host. Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the
whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, `Our bones are dried up, and our
hope is lost; we are clean cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them,
Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from
your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel.
And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise
you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and
you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know
that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it, says the LORD." |
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Epistle |
Romans 6:16-23
Slaves of Righteousness
Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to
death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God,
that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to
the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set
free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human
terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once yielded
your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield
your members to righteousness for sanctification. When you were slaves of
sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But then what return did you
get from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is
death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves
of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. For
the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord. |
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Gospel |
John 11:(1-17)18-44
The Death of Lazarus
Now a certain man was ill, Laz'arus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her
sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his
feet with her hair, whose brother Laz'arus was ill. So the sisters sent to
him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it he
said, "This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that
the Son of God may be glorified by means of it." Now Jesus loved Martha and
her sister and Laz'arus. So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two
days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the
disciples, "Let us go into Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi,
the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?"
Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in
the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But
if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in
him." Thus he spoke, and then he said to them, "Our friend Laz'arus has
fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep." The disciples said to
him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken
of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then
Jesus told them plainly, "Laz'arus is dead; and for your sake I am glad that
I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Thomas,
called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may
die with him."
Jesus the Resurrection and the Life
Now when Jesus came, he found that Laz'arus had already been in the tomb
four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the
Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary
sat in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my
brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask from
God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at
the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he
who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and
believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes,
Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming
into the world."
Jesus Weeps
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying quietly,
"The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she
rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but
was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with
her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they
followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Then
Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to
him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When
Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was
deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and he said, "Where have you laid him?"
They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See
how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes
of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone
lay upon it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the
dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has
been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you
would believe you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone.
And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast
heard me. I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on
account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst
send me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Laz'arus, come
out." The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his
face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." |
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