Old Testament Isaiah 52:13–53:12
Psalm Psalm 22 or Psalm 31
Epistle Hebrews 4:14–16, 5:7–9
Gospel John 18:1–19:42 or John 19:17–30
Index of Readings
OLD TESTAMENT
Isaiah 52:13–53:12
13 Behold, My Servant will prosper;
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
14 Just as many were appalled at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.
CHAPTER 53
1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should desire Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our peace fell upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living,
That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him?
9 So His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But Yahweh was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If You would place His soul as a guilt offering,
He will see His seed,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will divide for Him a portion with the many,
And He will divide the spoil with the strong;
Because He poured out His soul to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.
PSALM
Option A
Psalm 22
PSALM 22
For the choir director. According to Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my salvation are the words of my groaning.
2 O my God, I call by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
3 Yet You are holy,
Enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You rescued them.
5 To You they cried out and were granted escape;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
A reproach of men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
They smack their lip, they wag their head, saying,
8 “Commit yourself to Yahweh; let Him rescue him;
Let Him deliver him, because He delights in him.”
9 Yet You are He who brought me out of the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
10 Upon You I was cast from birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
11 Be not far from me, for distress is near;
For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open wide their mouth at me,
As a lion that tears and roars.
14 I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
18 They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But You, O Yahweh, be not far off;
O my Strength, hasten to my help.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
My only life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion;
From the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me.
22 I will surely recount Your name to my brothers;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him;
All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you seed of Israel.
24 For He has not despised and He has not abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
And He has not hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
25 Of You is my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise Yahweh.
May your heart live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is Yahweh’s
And He rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
30 Their seed will serve Him;
It will be recounted about the Lord to the coming generation.
31 They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has done it.
OR
Option B
Psalm 31
PSALM 31
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
1 In You, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed;
In Your righteousness protect me.
2 Incline Your ear to me, deliver me quickly;
Be to me a rock of strength,
A fortress to save me.
3 For You are my high rock and my fortress;
For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
4 You will bring me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have ransomed me, O Yahweh, God of truth.
6 I hate those who regard worthless idols,
But I trust in Yahweh.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,
Because You have seen my affliction;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
8 And You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is worn down with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
11 Among all my adversaries, I have become a reproach,
Especially to my neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man—out of mind—
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the bad report of many,
Terror is on every side;
While they took counsel together against me,
They schemed to take my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Yahweh,
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who pursue me.
16 Make Your face to shine upon Your slave;
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
17 O Yahweh, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon You;
Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak arrogantly against the righteous
With lofty pride and contempt.
19 How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have worked for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of men!
20 You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man;
You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be Yahweh,
For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.
22 As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless, You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried to You for help.
23 Oh, love Yahweh, all you His holy ones!
Yahweh guards the faithful
But repays fully the one who acts in lofty pride.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who wait for Yahweh.
EPISTLE
Hebrews 4:14–16, 5:7–9
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us take hold of our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin.
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
7 He, in the days of His flesh, offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
GOSPEL
Option A
John 18:1–19:42
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples to the other side of the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, into which He entered with His disciples.
2 Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often gathered there with His disciples.
3 Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.
6 So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,”
9 in order that the word which He spoke would be fulfilled, “Of those whom You have given Me, I lost not one.”
10 Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.
11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”
12 So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him,
13 and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better for one man to die on behalf of the people.
15 And Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest,
16 but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in.
17 Then the servant-girl who kept the door said to Peter, “Are you not also one of this man’s disciples?” He said, “I am not.”
18 Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.
19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching.
20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in 1synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret.
21 “Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; behold, they know what I said.”
22 And when He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby gave Jesus a slap, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”
23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?”
24 So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.”
26 One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?”
27 Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.
28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.
29 Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”
30 They answered and said to him, “If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.”
31 So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,”
32 in order that the word of Jesus which He spoke would be fulfilled, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.
33 Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this from yourself, or did others tell you about Me?”
35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what did You do?”
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom 1is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be delivered over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not 2from here.”
37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You yourself said I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”
And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.
39 “But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?”
40 So they cried out again, saying, “Not this man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.
CHAPTER 19
1 Pilate then took Jesus and flogged Him.
2 And when the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him;
3 and they were coming to Him and saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and were giving Him slaps in the face.
4 And Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.”
5 Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”
6 So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”
8 Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he became more afraid;
9 and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority 1over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
12 As a result of this Pilate kept seeking to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
15 So they cried out, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
16 So he then delivered Him over to them to be crucified.
17 They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.
18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.
19 And Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
20 Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek.
21 So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews;’ but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, a part to each soldier and also His tunic; now that tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.
24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be;” this was in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”
25 Therefore the soldiers did these things.
But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his home.
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been finished, in order to finish the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.”
29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.
30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of Preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him;
33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
35 And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
36 For these things came to pass in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.”
37 And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”
38 Now after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.
39 And Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about one hundred litras.
40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
42 Therefore because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
OR
Option B
John 19:17–30
17 They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.
18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.
19 And Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
20 Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek.
21 So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews;’ but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, a part to each soldier and also His tunic; now that tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.
24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be;” this was in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”
25 Therefore the soldiers did these things.
But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his home.
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been finished, in order to finish the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.”
29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.
30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Lutheran Service Book Three Year Lectionary. (2009). Concordia Publishing House.
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