3rd Sunday of Pascha

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, ⁷casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

⁸Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. ¹⁰But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. ¹¹To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. ¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you. So does Mark, my son.

¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to all of you who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for God’s Kingdom, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁴⁴Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead long. ⁴⁵When he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. ⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, saw where he was laid.

¹When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. ²Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³They were saying among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” ⁴for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back.

⁵Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. ⁶He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him! ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’”

⁸They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid.