The Season of Lent
Scripture Selections from the Evangelical Heritage VersionTM 
following the Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Revised November 14, 2020

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2019 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org 

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Ash Wednesday
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Joel 2:12-19
12Even now, declares the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and grief.
13Tear your heart and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy,
and he relents from sending disaster.
14Who knows?
He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.
15Blow the ram’s horn in Zion.
Set aside a day for fasting.
Call a solemn convocation.
16Gather the people.
Consecrate the assembly.
Bring together the elders.
Gather the children, even those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
17Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say:
Have compassion on your people, O Lord.
Do not subject the inheritance you have given us to the scorn of the nations.
Do not make us notorious among the nations as an object of ridicule.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’
18The Lord is zealous for his land,
and he will take pity on his people.
19The Lord will respond to them:
I am sending you grain, new wine, and fresh oil,
enough to satisfy you fully.
Never again will I subject you to scorn among the nations.

Epistle / Second Reading
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
We urge you, on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
6:1As fellow workers we also urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2For he says:
At a favorable time I listened to you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.
Look, now is the favorable time! See, now is the day of salvation!
3We are giving no one a reason to stumble in any way, so that our ministry will not be blamed. 4Rather, in every way we show ourselves to be God’s ministers: in great endurance, in troubles, in hardships, in difficulties, 5in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in hard work, in sleepless nights, in times of hunger; 6in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, 7in the word of truth, in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left; 8through glory and dishonor, through bad report and good report; treated as deceivers yet being honest, 9treated as unknown and yet being well known; as dying, and yet look—we live; as punished yet not put to death; 10as grieving yet always rejoicing; as poor yet making many rich; as having nothing yet possessing everything. 

Holy Gospel 
Matthew 6:1–6, 16-21 
“Be careful that you do not do your righteous works in front of people, so that they will notice. If you do, you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2So whenever you perform acts of mercy, do not sound a trumpet for yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be praised by people. Amen I tell you: They have received their reward. 3Instead, when you perform acts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4Then your acts of mercy will be in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 
5“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by people. Amen I tell you: They have received their reward. 6But whenever you pray, go into your private room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what others cannot see, will reward you. 
16“Whenever you fast, do not make yourself look sad like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show everyone that they are fasting. Amen I tell you: They have received their reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18so that it is not apparent to people that you are fasting, but only to your Father who sees what is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 
19“Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

The First Sunday in Lent
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Genesis 22:1–18
Some time later God tested Abraham. He called to him, “Abraham!” 
Abraham answered, “I am here.” 
2God said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there, the one to which I direct you.” 
3Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, along with Isaac his son. Abraham split the wood for the burnt offering. Then he set out to go to the place that God had told him about. 4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 
5Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go on over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and loaded it on Isaac his son. He took the firepot and the knife in his hand. The two of them went on together. 
7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father?” 
He said, “I am here, my son.” 
He said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 
8Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them went on together. 9They came to the place that God had told him about. Abraham built the altar there. He arranged the wood, tied up Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 
11The Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” 
Abraham said, “I am here.” 
12He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 
13Abraham looked around and saw that behind him there was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord Will Provide.” So it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” 
15The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16and said, “I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your descendants greatly, like the stars of the sky and like the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the city gates of their enemies. 18In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” 

Epistle / Second Reading
James 1:12–18
12Blessed is the man who endures a trial patiently, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God promised to those who love him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desire. 15Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. 
16Do not be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, who does not change or shift like a shadow. 18Just as he planned, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creations. 

Holy Gospel 
Mark 1:9–15
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10Just as Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.” 
12The Spirit immediately sent Jesus out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels were serving him. 
14After John was put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. 15“The time is fulfilled,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The Second Sunday in Lent
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Genesis 17:1–7, 15-16 
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. 2I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will make your descendants very numerous.” 
3Abram fell on his face. God spoke with him. He said, 4“As for me, this is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. 5Your name will not be Abram anymore, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a large group of nations. 6I will make you extremely fruitful, and I will produce nations from you. Kings will come out of you. 7I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you as an everlasting covenant throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 
15God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai anymore, but her name will be Sarah. 16I will bless her and even give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of many peoples will come from her.” 

Epistle / Second Reading
Romans 5:1–11
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God. 
3Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, 4and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope. 5And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. 
6For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
9Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. 10For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation. 

Holy Gospel 
Mark 8:27–38
27Jesus went away with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 
28They told him, “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others say one of the prophets.” 
29“But who do you say I am?” he asked them. 
Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 
30Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. 
31Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things; be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the experts in the law; be killed; and after three days rise again. 32He was speaking plainly to them. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But after turning around and looking at his disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have your mind set on the things of God, but the things of men.” 
34He called the crowd and his disciples together and said to them, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36After all, what good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38In fact, whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 

The Third Sunday in Lent
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Exodus 20:1–17
Then God spoke all these words: 
2I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. 
3You shall have no other gods beside me. 4You shall not make any carved image for yourself or a likeness of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. 5Do not bow down to them or be subservient to them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God. I follow up on the guilt of the fathers with their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren, if they also hate me. 6But I show mercy to thousands who love me and keep my commandments. 
7You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not permit anyone who misuses his name to escape unpunished. 
8Remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart as holy. 9Six days you are to serve and do all your regular work, 10but the seventh day shall be a sabbath rest to the Lord your God. Do not do any regular work, neither you, nor your sons or daughters, nor your male or female servants, nor your cattle, nor the alien who is residing inside your gates, 11for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. In this way the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy. 
12Honor your father and your mother so that you may spend many days on the land that the Lord your God is giving to you. 
13You shall not commit murder. 
14You shall not commit adultery. 
15You shall not steal. 
16You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 
17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. 

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 1:18–31
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 19In fact, it is written: 
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; 
the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nothing. 
20Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Jewish law? Where is the probing thinker of the present age? Has God not shown that the wisdom of this world is foolish? 21Indeed, since the world through its wisdom did not know God, God in his wisdom decided to save those who believe, through the foolishness of the preached message. 22Yes, Jews ask for signs, Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified—which is offensive to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 
26For example, consider your call, brothers. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view, not many were powerful, and not many were born with high status. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are strong, 28and God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to do away with the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before God. 30But because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom from God, namely, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31God did this so that, just as it is written, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 

Holy Gospel 
John 2:13–22 (23-25)   
13The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 
14In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers sitting at tables. 15He made a whip of cords and drove everyone out of the temple courts, along with the sheep and oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those selling doves he said, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a place of business!” 
17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 
18So the Jews responded, “What sign are you going to show us to prove you can do these things?” 
19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” 
20The Jews said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! And you are going to raise it in three days?” 21But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 22When Jesus was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and what Jesus had said. 

23While he was in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, many believed in his name as they observed the miraculous signs he was doing. 24But Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting himself to them, because he knew them all. 25He did not need anyone to testify about man, because he himself knew what was in man. 

The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Numbers 21:4–9
4They set out from Mount Hor along the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom, but the people became very impatient along the way. 5The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? Look, there is no food! There is no water! And we are disgusted by this worthless food!” 
6The Lord sent venomous snakes among the people, and the snakes bit the people. As a result many people from Israel died. 7The people went to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord to take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed on behalf of the people. 
8The Lord said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake and put it on a pole. If anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” 9Moses made a bronze snake and put it on the pole. If a snake had bitten anyone, if that person looked at the bronze snake, he lived. 

Epistle / Second Reading
Ephesians 2:1–10
You were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you formerly walked when you followed the ways of this present world. You were following the ruler of the domain of the air, the spirit now at work in the people who disobey. 
3Formerly, we all lived among them in the passions of our sinful flesh, as we carried out the desires of the sinful flesh and its thoughts. Like all the others, we were by nature objects of God’s wrath. 
4But God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! 6He also raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 7He did this so that, in the coming ages, he might demonstrate the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 
10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them. 

Holy Gospel 
John 3:14–21
14“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. 19This is the basis for the judgment: The light has come into the world, yet people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 20In fact, everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, or else his deeds would be exposed. 21But the one who does what is true comes toward the light, in order that his deeds may be seen as having been done in connection with God.” 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31Yes, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers,
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They broke that covenant of mine,
although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.
33But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
declares the Lord.
I will put my law in their minds,
and I will write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34No longer will each one teach his neighbor,
or each one teach his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord,
for I will forgive their guilt,
and I will remember their sins no more.

Epistle / Second Reading
Hebrews 5:1–10
To be sure, every high priest is chosen from the people and is appointed to represent the people in the things pertaining to God, so that he may offer gifts, as well as sacrifices, for sins. 2He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also weak in many ways. 3And for this reason he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, just as he does for the people. 
4No one takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5In the same way, Christ did not take the glory of becoming a high priest on himself, but God said to him: 
You are my Son. 
Today I have begotten you. 
6He also said the same thing in another place: 
You are a priest forever, like Melchizedek. 
7In the days of his flesh, he offered prayers and pleas with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 9After he was brought to his goal, he became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys him, 10because he was designated by God as a high priest, like Melchizedek. 

Holy Gospel 
Mark 10:(32-34) 35–45 
32They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them. The disciples were amazed, and the others who followed were afraid. He took the Twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 33“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles. 34They will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” 

35James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we ask.” 
36He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 
37They said to him, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.” 
38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with?” 
39“We can,” they replied. 
Jesus told them, “You will drink the cup that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with. 40But to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to give; rather, these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” 
41When the ten heard this, they were angry with James and John. 
42Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43But that is not the way it is to be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

The Sixth Sunday in Lent—Palm Sunday Procession, Sunday of the Passion
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Zechariah 9:9-12
9Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
Look! Your King is coming to you.
He is righteous and brings salvation.
He is humble and is riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the horse from Jerusalem.
The battle bow will be taken away,
and he will proclaim peace to the nations.
His kingdom will extend from sea to sea,
from the River to the ends of the earth.
11As for you,
because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12Return to the stronghold, you prisoners who have hope.
This very day I declare that I will restore double to you.

Epistle / Second Reading
Philippians 2:5-11
5Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 6Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, 7but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Holy Gospel 
John 12:12-19
12The next day, the large crowd that had come for the Festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13Taking palm branches, they went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!”
14Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written:
15Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look! Your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.
16At first, his disciples did not understand these things. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him, and that they did these things for him.
17The crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead kept telling what they had seen. 18This is another reason a crowd met him: They heard he had done this miraculous sign.
19So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You are accomplishing nothing. Look! The world has gone after him.”

or

Mark 14:1-15:47
It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the experts in the law were looking for some deceptive way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2“Certainly not during the Festival,” they said, “or there will be a riot among the people.” 
3While Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made from pure nard. She broke the alabaster jar and poured it over his head. 4But there were some who were indignant and said to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? 5Certainly this perfume could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor!” And they began to scold her. 
6But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 7In fact, you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you are not always going to have me. 8She did what she could. She anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9Amen I tell you: Wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman did will also be told in memory of her.” 
10Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them. 11When they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. 
12On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and there a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house that the Teacher says, ‘Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 
16His disciples left and went into the city and found things just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. 
17When it was evening, he arrived with the Twelve. 
18While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Amen I tell you: One of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 
19They began to be sorrowful and said to him one by one, “Surely not I?” 
20He said to them, “It is one of the Twelve, one who is dipping bread with me in the dish. 21Indeed, the Son of Man is going to go just as it has been written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 
22While they were eating, Jesus took bread. When he had blessed it, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “Take it. This is my body.” 
23Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them. They all drank from it. 24He said to them, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many. 25Amen I tell you: I will certainly not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26After they sang a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 
27Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28But after I am raised, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” 
29But Peter said to him, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” 
30Jesus said to him, “Amen I tell you: Today—this very night—before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 
31But Peter kept saying emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” And they all said the same thing. 
32They went to a place named Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33Then he took Peter, James, and John along with him and began to be troubled and distressed. 34He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, even to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.” 
35Going forward a little, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36He also said, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 
37When he returned to the disciples, he found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Were you not strong enough to keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 
39Again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40When he returned, he found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. They did not know what they should answer him. 41He returned the third time and said to them, “Are you going to continue sleeping and resting? It is enough. The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Rise, let us go. Look, my betrayer is near.” 
43Just then, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. A crowd was with him, armed with swords and clubs. They were from the chief priests, the experts in the law, and the elders. 44Now his betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45He went right to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46They laid hands on him and arrested him. 47But one of those who stood nearby drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 
48Jesus responded by saying to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to capture me as you would a criminal? 49Day after day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But this happened so that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.” 50Then the disciples all left him and fled. 
51A certain young man was following him, wearing just a linen cloth over his naked body. They seized him, 52but he left behind the linen cloth and fled from them naked. 
53They led Jesus away to the high priest. All the chief priests, the elders, and the experts in the law gathered together. 54Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. He was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. 
55The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they did not find any. 56Many testified falsely against him, but their testimonies did not agree. 57Some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” 59Yet even on this point, their testimony did not agree. 
60The high priest stepped forward and questioned Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is this they are testifying against you?” 
61But Jesus was silent and did not answer anything. 
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 
62“I am,” Jesus said. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 
63The high priest tore his robes and said, “Why do we need any more witnesses? 64You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” 
They all condemned him as being worthy of death. 65Then some began to spit on him. They covered his face and struck him with their fists, saying, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him and beat him. 
66While Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the servant girls of the high priest came there. 67When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked directly at him and said, “You were also with the Nazarene, Jesus!” 
68But he denied it, saying, “I don’t know or understand what you are saying,” and he went out to the entryway. Then a rooster crowed. 
69When the servant girl saw him, once more she began to tell those standing there, “This is one of them.” 
70But again he denied it. After a little while those who were standing there said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, because you are a Galilean.” 
71But he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” 72Just then, the rooster crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. 
15:1As soon as it was morning, the chief priests, along with the elders, the experts in the law, and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 
He answered him, “It is as you say.” 
3The chief priests accused him of many things. 4Pilate questioned him again, “Are you not going to answer anything? See how many charges they are bringing against you!” 
5But Jesus still did not answer anything, so Pilate was amazed. 
6At each Festival, Pilate used to release to the people one prisoner whom they requested. 7There was one named Barabbas, who was imprisoned with the rebels and had committed murder in the rebellion. 8The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them what he usually did. 
9Pilate replied, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?” 10In fact, he knew that it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. 
11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas to them instead. 
12Again, Pilate replied to them, “Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 
13“Crucify him!” they shouted back. 
14But Pilate said to them, “Why? What has he done wrong?” 
But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!” 
15Since he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. After he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. 
16The soldiers led him away inside the palace, which is the Praetorium, and called together the whole cohort of soldiers. 17They put a purple robe on him, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on him. 18The soldiers began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19They kept hitting him on the head with a reed and spitting on him. They also kneeled down to pay homage to him. 
20When they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothing on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. 
21A certain man, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), was passing by on his way in from the country. They forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 22They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means, “The place of a skull.” 23They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24They crucified him. And they divided his garments, casting lots for them to decide what each of them would take. 
25Now it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26The superscription stating the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27They also crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and one on his left. 
29Those who passed by ridiculed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save yourself! Come down from the cross!” 
31In the same way the chief priests along with the experts in the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said. “He cannot save himself. 32Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross so that we may see and believe!” 
Those who were crucified with him also insulted him. 
33When it was the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34At the ninth hour Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 
35When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah!” 
36Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. They said, “Leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.” 
37Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. 38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he cried out and breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 
40There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41When he was in Galilee, they followed him and served him. Many other women also came up with him to Jerusalem. 
42It was already evening, and since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43Joseph from Arimathaea, a prominent member of the council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had been dead for a long time. 45When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he granted the body to Joseph. 46Joseph bought a linen cloth, took him down, and wrapped him in the linen cloth. He laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock, and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where the body was laid. 

or 

Mark 15:1-47
1As soon as it was morning, the chief priests, along with the elders, the experts in the law, and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 
He answered him, “It is as you say.” 
3The chief priests accused him of many things. 4Pilate questioned him again, “Are you not going to answer anything? See how many charges they are bringing against you!” 
5But Jesus still did not answer anything, so Pilate was amazed. 
6At each Festival, Pilate used to release to the people one prisoner whom they requested. 7There was one named Barabbas, who was imprisoned with the rebels and had committed murder in the rebellion. 8The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them what he usually did. 
9Pilate replied, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?” 10In fact, he knew that it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. 
11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas to them instead. 
12Again, Pilate replied to them, “Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 
13“Crucify him!” they shouted back. 
14But Pilate said to them, “Why? What has he done wrong?” 
But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!” 
15Since he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. After he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. 
16The soldiers led him away inside the palace, which is the Praetorium, and called together the whole cohort of soldiers. 17They put a purple robe on him, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on him. 18The soldiers began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19They kept hitting him on the head with a reed and spitting on him. They also kneeled down to pay homage to him. 
20When they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothing on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. 
21A certain man, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), was passing by on his way in from the country. They forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 22They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means, “The place of a skull.” 23They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24They crucified him. And they divided his garments, casting lots for them to decide what each of them would take. 
25Now it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26The superscription stating the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27They also crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and one on his left. 
29Those who passed by ridiculed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save yourself! Come down from the cross!” 
31In the same way the chief priests along with the experts in the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said. “He cannot save himself. 32Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross so that we may see and believe!” 
Those who were crucified with him also insulted him. 
33When it was the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34At the ninth hour Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 
35When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah!” 
36Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. They said, “Leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.” 
37Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. 38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he cried out and breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 
40There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41When he was in Galilee, they followed him and served him. Many other women also came up with him to Jerusalem. 
42It was already evening, and since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43Joseph from Arimathaea, a prominent member of the council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had been dead for a long time. 45When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he granted the body to Joseph. 46Joseph bought a linen cloth, took him down, and wrapped him in the linen cloth. He laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock, and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where the body was laid.

or

John 12:20-43
20Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Festival. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” 22Philip went to tell Andrew. Andrew came with Philip and told Jesus.
23Jesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it continues to be one kernel. But if it dies, it produces much grain. 25Anyone who loves his life destroys it. And the one who hates his life in this world will hold on to it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
27“Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, this is the reason I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!”
A voice came from heaven: “I have glorified my name, and I will glorify it again.”
29The crowd standing there heard it and said it thundered. Others said an angel talked to him. 30Jesus answered, “This voice was not for my sake but for yours.
31“Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate what kind of death he was going to die.
34The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Scriptures that the Christ will remain forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
35Then Jesus told them, “The light will be with you just a little while longer. Keep on walking while you have the light, so that darkness does not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.”
Jesus spoke these words, and then went away and was hidden from them.
37Even though Jesus had done so many miraculous signs in their presence, they still did not believe in him. 38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said:
Lord, who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
39For this reason they could not believe, because Isaiah also said:
40He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they would not see with their eyes,
or understand with their heart,
or turn—and I would heal them.
41Isaiah said these things when he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42Nevertheless, even many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing him, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue. 43For they loved praise from people more than praise from God. 

Holy Thursday
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Exodus 24:3-11
3Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. 
He got up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He set up twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5He sent young Israelite men, who offered whole burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings of cattle to the Lord. 6Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and he splashed half of the blood on the altar. 7He took the Book of the Covenant and read it out loud to the people and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do. We will obey.” 
8Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people. He said, “Look, here is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord made with you by means of all these words.” 
9Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. 10They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet they saw what looked like a pavement of sapphire as clear as the sky. 11The Lord did not lay his hand on the dignitaries of the people of Israel. They gazed at God, and they ate and drank. 

or

Exodus 12:1-14
The Lord told Moses and Aaron this in the land of Egypt: 
2This month is to be the beginning of your calendar. It is to be the first month of the year for you. 3Tell the entire Israelite community that on the tenth day of this month, they are to take a lamb or a kid goat for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, one lamb per household. 4But if the household is too small for a whole lamb, then that person and his neighbor next door to him must select one, based on the number of people. Determine what size lamb is needed according to how much each person will eat. 
5Your lamb must be unblemished, a year-old male. You may take it from the sheep or the goats. 6You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. Then the whole assembly of the Israelite community is to slaughter the lambs at sunset. 7They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat the lamb. 8That night they shall eat the meat that has been roasted over a fire, along with unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. 9Do not eat it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over a fire—with its head, its legs, and its internal organs. 10You shall not leave any of it until the morning. Whatever remains until the morning, you shall burn in the fire. 11This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt ready for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 
12For on that night I will pass through the land of Egypt. I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. 13The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. There will be no plague among you to destroy you, when I strike down the land of Egypt. 
14This day shall be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. Throughout your generations you must celebrate it as a permanent regulation. 

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 10:16–17
16The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? 17Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.  

or

1 Corinthians 11:23–32
23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25In the same way, after the meal, he also took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 
27Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the Lord’s body and blood. 28Instead, let a person examine himself and after doing so, let him eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29For if anyone eats and drinks in an unworthy way because he does not recognize the Lord’s body, he eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30Because of this, many among you are weak and sick, and quite a few have fallen asleep. 31But if we judged ourselves, we would not be undergoing judgment. 32However, when we undergo judgment, we are being disciplined by the Lord so that we may not be condemned with the world. 

Holy Gospel 
Mark 14:12–26
12On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and there a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house that the Teacher says, ‘Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 
16His disciples left and went into the city and found things just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. 
17When it was evening, he arrived with the Twelve. 
18While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Amen I tell you: One of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 
19They began to be sorrowful and said to him one by one, “Surely not I?” 
20He said to them, “It is one of the Twelve, one who is dipping bread with me in the dish. 21Indeed, the Son of Man is going to go just as it has been written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 
22While they were eating, Jesus took bread. When he had blessed it, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “Take it. This is my body.” 
23Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them. They all drank from it. 24He said to them, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many. 25Amen I tell you: I will certainly not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26After they sang a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

or

John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end.
2By the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
3Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God. 4He got up from the supper and laid aside his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7Jesus answered him, “You do not understand what I am doing now, but later you will understand.”
8Peter told him, “You will never, ever, wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”
9“Lord, not just my feet,” Simon Peter replied, “but also my hands and my head!”
10Jesus told him, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet, but his body is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you.” 11Indeed, he knew who was going to betray him. That is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the table again. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13“You call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. 14Now if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15Yes, I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I have done for you. 16Amen, Amen, I tell you: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
31bJesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.”
33“Dear children, I am going to be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
34“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Good Friday
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year B
Evangelical Heritage VersionTM

Old Testament / First Reading
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
13Look, my servant will succeed.
He will rise. He will be lifted up. He will be highly exalted.
14Just as many were appalled at him—
his appearance was so disfigured that he did not look like a man,
and his form was disfigured more than any other person—
15so he will sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him,
because they will see something they had never been told before,
and they will understand something they had never heard before.
53:1Who has believed our report,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2He grew up before him like a tender shoot
and like a root from dry ground.
He had no attractiveness and no majesty.
When we saw him, nothing about his appearance made us desire him.
3He was despised and rejected by men,
a man who knew grief,
who was well acquainted with suffering.
Like someone whom people cannot bear to look at,
he was despised,
and we thought nothing of him.
4Surely he was taking up our weaknesses,
and he was carrying our sufferings,
We thought it was because of God
that he was stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
5but it was because of our rebellion that he was pierced.
He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved.
The punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6We all have gone astray like sheep.
Each of us has turned to his own way,
but the Lord has charged all our guilt to him.
7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb he was led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that is silent in front of its shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8He was taken away without a fair trial and without justice,
and of his generation, who even cared?
So, he was cut off from the land of the living.
He was struck because of the rebellion of my people.
9They would have assigned him a grave with the wicked,
but he was given a grave with the rich in his death,
because he had done no violence,
and no deceit was in his mouth.
10Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him
and allow him to suffer.
Because you made his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring.
He will prolong his days,
and the Lord’s gracious plan will succeed in his hand.
11After his soul experiences anguish, he will see the light of life.
He will provide satisfaction.
Through their knowledge of him, my just servant will justify the many,
for he himself carried their guilt.
12Therefore I will give him an allotment among the great,
and with the strong he will share plunder,
because he poured out his life to death,
and he let himself be counted with rebellious sinners.
He himself carried the sin of many,
and he intercedes for the rebels.

Epistle / Second Reading
Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin. 16So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
5:7In the days of his flesh, he offered prayers and pleas with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 9After he was brought to his goal, he became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys him.

Holy Gospel 
John 18:1-19:42
After saying these things, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden. He and his disciples went into it.
2Now Judas, who was betraying him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3So Judas took the company of soldiers and some guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
4Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
5“Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus told them.
Judas, the betrayer, was standing with them. 6When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they backed away and fell to the ground.
7Then Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?”
“Jesus the Nazarene,” they said.
8“I told you that I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” 9This was to fulfill the statement he had spoken: “I did not lose any of those you have given me.”
10Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
11So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?”
12Then the company of soldiers, their commander, and the Jewish guards arrested Jesus and bound him. 13First they led him to Annas, because he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. 14Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews, “It is better that one man die for the people.”
15Simon Peter and another disciple kept following Jesus. That disciple was known to the high priest, so he went into the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. 16But Peter stood outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and talked to the girl watching the door and brought Peter in.
17“You are not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter.
“I am not!” he said.
18The servants and guards were standing around a fire of coals that they had made because it was cold. While they warmed themselves, Peter was standing with them, warming himself too.
19The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in a synagogue or at the temple, where all the Jews gather. I said nothing in secret. 21Why are you questioning me? Ask those who heard what I told them. Look, they know what I said.”
22When he said this, one of the guards standing there hit Jesus in the face. “Is that how you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23“If I said something wrong,” Jesus answered, “testify about what was wrong. But if I was right, why did you hit me?”
24Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
25Simon Peter continued to stand there warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples too, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “I am not!”
26One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”
27Peter denied it again, and just then a rooster crowed.
28Early in the morning, the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium. They did not enter the Praetorium themselves, so that they would not become ceremonially unclean. (They wanted to be able to eat the Passover meal.) 29So Pilate went out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”
30They answered him, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”
31Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.”
The Jews said, “It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death.” 32This happened so that the statement Jesus had spoken indicating what kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.
33Pilate went back into the Praetorium and summoned Jesus. He asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
34Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”
35Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”
36Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.”
37“You are a king then?” Pilate asked.
Jesus answered, “I am, as you say, a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
38“What is truth?” Pilate said to him.
After he said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you?”
40Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a rebel.)
19:1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on his head. Then they threw a purple robe around him. 3They kept coming to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they kept hitting him in the face.
4Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
5So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
6When the chief priests and guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9He went back inside the palace again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”
But Jesus gave him no answer.
10So Pilate asked him, “Are you not talking to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you or to crucify you?”
11Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
12From then on Pilate tried to release Jesus. But the Jews shouted, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar!”
13When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, or Gabbatha in Aramaic. 14It was about the sixth hour on the Preparation Day for the Passover. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”
15They shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”
“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.
16So then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus away. 17Carrying his own cross, he went out to what is called the Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him with two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle.
19Pilate also had a notice written and fastened on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.”
20Many of the Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.
21So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that ‘this man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took his tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it. Instead, let’s cast lots to see who gets it.” This was so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:
They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
So the soldiers did these things.
25Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing near the cross.
26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son!” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother!” And from that time this disciple took her into his own home.
28After this, knowing that everything had now been finished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.”
29A jar full of sour wine was sitting there. So they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished!” Then, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
31Since it was the Preparation Day, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses over the Sabbath (because that Sabbath was a particularly important day). They asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and the bodies taken away. 32So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who was crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other man.
33But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. Immediately blood and water came out. 35The one who saw it has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36Indeed, these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37Again another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they pierced.”
38After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him remove Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave him permission, he came and took Jesus’ body away. 39Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-two pounds.
40They took Jesus’ body and bound it with linen strips along with the spices, in accord with Jewish burial customs.
41There was a garden at the place where Jesus was crucified. And in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42So they laid Jesus there, because it was the Jewish Preparation Day, and the tomb was near.

or

John 19:17-30
17Carrying his own cross, he went out to what is called the Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him with two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle.
19Pilate also had a notice written and fastened on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.”
20Many of the Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.
21So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that ‘this man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took his tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it. Instead, let’s cast lots to see who gets it.” This was so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:
They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
So the soldiers did these things.
25Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing near the cross.
26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son!” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother!” And from that time this disciple took her into his own home.
28After this, knowing that everything had now been finished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.”
29A jar full of sour wine was sitting there. So they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished!” Then, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.