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<DIV>The following are the readings for the Good Friday, March 30, 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, Canadian and C of E lectionaries are identical to the RCL for this
day.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 52: 13 - 53: 12 (all)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Isai 52:13 (NRSV) See, my servant shall prosper; </DIV>
<DIV>he shall be exalted and lifted up, </DIV>
<DIV>and shall be very high. </DIV>
<DIV>14 Just as there were many who were astonished at him </DIV>
<DIV>--so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, </DIV>
<DIV>and his form beyond that of mortals-- </DIV>
<DIV>15 so he shall startle many nations; </DIV>
<DIV>kings shall shut their mouths because of him; </DIV>
<DIV>for that which had not been told them they shall see, </DIV>
<DIV>and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate. </DIV>
<DIV>53:1 Who has believed what we have heard? </DIV>
<DIV>And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? </DIV>
<DIV>2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, </DIV>
<DIV>and like a root out of dry ground; </DIV>
<DIV>he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, </DIV>
<DIV>nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. </DIV>
<DIV>3 He was despised and rejected by others; </DIV>
<DIV>a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; </DIV>
<DIV>and as one from whom others hide their faces </DIV>
<DIV>he was despised, and we held him of no account. </DIV>
<DIV>4 Surely he has borne our infirmities </DIV>
<DIV>and carried our diseases; </DIV>
<DIV>yet we accounted him stricken, </DIV>
<DIV>struck down by God, and afflicted. </DIV>
<DIV>5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, </DIV>
<DIV>crushed for our iniquities; </DIV>
<DIV>upon him was the punishment that made us whole, </DIV>
<DIV>and by his bruises we are healed. </DIV>
<DIV>6 All we like sheep have gone astray; </DIV>
<DIV>we have all turned to our own way, </DIV>
<DIV>and the LORD has laid on him </DIV>
<DIV>the iniquity of us all. </DIV>
<DIV>7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, </DIV>
<DIV>yet he did not open his mouth; </DIV>
<DIV>like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, </DIV>
<DIV>and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, </DIV>
<DIV>so he did not open his mouth. </DIV>
<DIV>8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away. </DIV>
<DIV>Who could have imagined his future? </DIV>
<DIV>For he was cut off from the land of the living, </DIV>
<DIV>stricken for the transgression of my people. </DIV>
<DIV>9 They made his grave with the wicked </DIV>
<DIV>and his tomb with the rich, </DIV>
<DIV>although he had done no violence, </DIV>
<DIV>and there was no deceit in his mouth. </DIV>
<DIV>10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. </DIV>
<DIV>When you make his life an offering for sin, </DIV>
<DIV>he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; </DIV>
<DIV>through him the will of the LORD shall prosper. </DIV>
<DIV>11 Out of his anguish he shall see light; </DIV>
<DIV>he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. </DIV>
<DIV>The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, </DIV>
<DIV>and he shall bear their iniquities. </DIV>
<DIV>12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, </DIV>
<DIV>and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; </DIV>
<DIV>because he poured out himself to death, </DIV>
<DIV>and was numbered with the transgressors; </DIV>
<DIV>yet he bore the sin of many, </DIV>
<DIV>and made intercession for the transgressors. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>PSALM 22 (RCL)</DIV>
<DIV>Psalm 22:1-10 (11-22) (C of E)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 22:1 (NRSV) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? </DIV>
<DIV>Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? </DIV>
<DIV>2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; </DIV>
<DIV>and by night, but find no rest. </DIV>
<DIV>3 Yet you are holy, </DIV>
<DIV>enthroned on the praises of Israel. </DIV>
<DIV>4 In you our ancestors trusted; </DIV>
<DIV>they trusted, and you delivered them. </DIV>
<DIV>5 To you they cried, and were saved; </DIV>
<DIV>in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. </DIV>
<DIV>6 But I am a worm, and not human; </DIV>
<DIV>scorned by others, and despised by the people. </DIV>
<DIV>7 All who see me mock at me; </DIV>
<DIV>they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; </DIV>
<DIV>8 "Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver-- </DIV>
<DIV>let him rescue the one in whom he delights!" </DIV>
<DIV>9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb; </DIV>
<DIV>you kept me safe on my mother's breast. </DIV>
<DIV>10 On you I was cast from my birth, </DIV>
<DIV>and since my mother bore me you have been my God. </DIV>
<DIV>11 Do not be far from me, </DIV>
<DIV>for trouble is near </DIV>
<DIV>and there is no one to help. </DIV>
<DIV>12 Many bulls encircle me, </DIV>
<DIV>strong bulls of Ba'shan surround me; </DIV>
<DIV>13 they open wide their mouths at me, </DIV>
<DIV>like a ravening and roaring lion. </DIV>
<DIV>14 I am poured out like water, </DIV>
<DIV>and all my bones are out of joint; </DIV>
<DIV>my heart is like wax; </DIV>
<DIV>it is melted within my breast; </DIV>
<DIV>15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, </DIV>
<DIV>and my tongue sticks to my jaws; </DIV>
<DIV>you lay me in the dust of death. </DIV>
<DIV>16 For dogs are all around me; </DIV>
<DIV>a company of evildoers encircles me. </DIV>
<DIV>My hands and feet have shriveled; </DIV>
<DIV>17 I can count all my bones. </DIV>
<DIV>They stare and gloat over me; </DIV>
<DIV>18 they divide my clothes among themselves, </DIV>
<DIV>and for my clothing they cast lots. </DIV>
<DIV>19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away! </DIV>
<DIV>O my help, come quickly to my aid! </DIV>
<DIV>20 Deliver my soul from the sword, </DIV>
<DIV>my life from the power of the dog! </DIV>
<DIV>21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! </DIV>
<DIV>From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me. </DIV>
<DIV>22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; </DIV>
<DIV>in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Verse numbering in your Psalter may be different from the above.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psalm 31: 1, 5, 11, 12, 14 - 16, 24 (Roman Catholic)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 31:1 (NRSV) In you, O LORD, I seek refuge; </DIV>
<DIV>do not let me ever be put to shame; </DIV>
<DIV>in your righteousness deliver me. </DIV>
<DIV>5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; </DIV>
<DIV>you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries, </DIV>
<DIV>a horror {Cn: Heb [exceedingly]} to my neighbors, </DIV>
<DIV>an object of dread to my acquaintances; </DIV>
<DIV>those who see me in the street flee from me. </DIV>
<DIV>12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; </DIV>
<DIV>I have become like a broken vessel. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>14 But I trust in you, O LORD; </DIV>
<DIV>I say, "You are my God." </DIV>
<DIV>15 My times are in your hand; </DIV>
<DIV>deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>16 Let your face shine upon your servant; </DIV>
<DIV>save me in your steadfast love. </DIV>
<DIV>24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, </DIV>
<DIV>all you who wait for the LORD. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Note: verse numbering in the RC Bible is one greater than the above</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 10: 16 - 25 (RCL)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hebr 10:1 (NRSV) Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come
and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices
that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. 2
Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers,
cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3 But in
these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. 4 For it is
impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently,
when Christ came into the world, he said, </DIV>
<DIV>"Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, </DIV>
<DIV>but a body you have prepared for me; </DIV>
<DIV>6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings </DIV>
<DIV>you have taken no pleasure. </DIV>
<DIV>7 Then I said, "See, God, I have come to do your will, O God' </DIV>
<DIV>(in the scroll of the book it is written of me)." </DIV>
<DIV>8 When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in
sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are
offered according to the law), 9 then he added, "See, I have come to do your
will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by
God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all. </DIV>
<DIV>11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and
again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had
offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand
of God," 13 and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be made a
footstool for his feet." 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all
time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for
after saying, </DIV>
<DIV>16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them </DIV>
<DIV>after those days, says the Lord: </DIV>
<DIV>I will put my laws in their hearts, </DIV>
<DIV>and I will write them on their minds," </DIV>
<DIV>17 he also adds, </DIV>
<DIV>"I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." </DIV>
<DIV>18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for
sin. </DIV>
<DIV>19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary
by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us
through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great
priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and
our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our
hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us
consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to
meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the
more as you see the Day approaching. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hebrews 4: 14 - 16, 5: 7 - 9 (Roman Catholic, alt. for
RCL)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hebr 4:14 (NRSV) Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet
without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,
with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and
he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he
learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he
became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<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>