I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10, RSV

Lord our God, grant that we may find the power of your Spirit so that we may live on a higher level, no longer controlled by our lower natures but strengthened to take up the battle of life. May we be children of the Spirit and may we walk in the Spirit. Guard us against carelessness and keep us joyful and courageous. Help us and counsel us on all our ways so that we may honor You and testify that You are our God, our true help. Amen.

¹⁴ But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

¹⁶ See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

¹³ But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.

¹⁴ If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

¹⁵ But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker.

¹⁶ Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.

¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

¹⁸ And “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?”

¹⁹ Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

¹¹ Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons.

¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³ A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.

¹⁴ When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.

¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.

¹⁶ He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!

¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;

¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’

²⁰ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

²² But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

²³ And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;

²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

⁵ Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,

⁷ but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,

⁸ he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

⁸ Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

⁹ He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we.

¹⁰ Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”

¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh.

¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

¹³ The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites,

 ¹⁴ and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

⁴⁵ From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

⁴⁶ And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

⁴⁷ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.”

⁴⁸ At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.

⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”

⁵⁰ Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.

⁵² The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

⁵³ After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴ Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

⁵⁵ Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him.

⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

¹ Do not speak harshly to an older man, but speak to him as to a father, to younger men as brothers,

² to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters—with absolute purity.

³¹ When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³² If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”