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<DIV>The following are the readings for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 2, 2017,
according to the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman Catholic,
Canadian BAS, 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, C of E, and Canadian lectionaries are
identical to the RCL for this day.</DIV>
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<DIV>OLD TESTAMENT: Ezekiel 37: 1 - 14 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV>
Ezekiel 37: 12 - 14 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ezek 37:1 (NRSV) 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 a valley; it was full
of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley,
and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I
answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these
bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus says the
Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6
I will lay sinews on 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." </DIV>
<DIV>7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly
there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8
I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin
had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me,
"Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, 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." 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into
them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. </DIV>
<DIV>11 Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off
completely.' 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I
am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people;
and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am
the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my
people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place
you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will
act," says the LORD. </DIV>
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<DIV>PSALM 130 (all) </DIV>
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<DIV>Psal 130:1 (NRSV) Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. </DIV>
<DIV>2 Lord, hear my voice! </DIV>
<DIV>Let your ears be attentive </DIV>
<DIV>to the voice of my supplications! </DIV>
<DIV>3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, </DIV>
<DIV>Lord, who could stand? </DIV>
<DIV>4 But there is forgiveness with you, </DIV>
<DIV>so that you may be revered. </DIV>
<DIV>5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, </DIV>
<DIV>and in his word I hope; </DIV>
<DIV>6 my soul waits for the Lord </DIV>
<DIV>more than those who watch for the morning, </DIV>
<DIV>more than those who watch for the morning. </DIV>
<DIV>7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! </DIV>
<DIV>For with the LORD there is steadfast love, </DIV>
<DIV>and with him is great power to redeem. </DIV>
<DIV>8 It is he who will redeem Israel </DIV>
<DIV>from all its iniquities. </DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>NEW TESTAMENT: Romans 8: 6 - 11 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV>
Romans 8: 8 - 11 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
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<DIV>Roma 8:6 (NRSV) To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind
on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the
flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law--indeed it cannot, 8
and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. </DIV>
<DIV>9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of
God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong
to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the
Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised
Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give
life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>GOSPEL: John 11: 1 - 45 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV>
John 11: (1 - 2) 3 - 7 (8 - 16) 17 (18 - 19) 20 - 27 (28 - 33a) 33b -
45 (Roman Catholic)</DIV>
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<DIV>John 11:1 (NRSV) Now a certain man was ill, Laz'arus of Beth'any, the
village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord
with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Laz'arus was ill. 3
So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." 4 But
when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is
for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 5
Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Laz'arus, 6 after
having heard that Laz'arus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where
he was. </DIV>
<DIV>7 Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8
The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you,
and are you going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of
daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the
light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light
is not in them." 11 After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Laz'arus has
fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." 12 The disciples said to
him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right." 13 Jesus, however,
had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely
to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Laz'arus is dead. 15 For your sake I
am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." 16
Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go,
that we may die with him." </DIV>
<DIV>17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Laz'arus had already been in the tomb
four days. 18 Now Beth'any was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many
of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed
at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would
not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of
him." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to
him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me,
even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me
will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe
that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." </DIV>
<DIV>28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and
told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29 And when
she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come
to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews
who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go
out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to
weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet
and said to him, "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 greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, "Where have you
laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So
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?" </DIV>
<DIV>38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave,
and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha,
the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench
because he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you
that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the
stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard
me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the
crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had
said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Laz'arus, come out!" 44 The dead man
came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in
a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." </DIV>
<DIV>45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what
Jesus did, believed in him. </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Chad
Wohlers<BR>Woodbury, VT
USA<BR>chadwohl@satucket.com<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>