Bible Readings

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,

and no torment will ever touch them.

2In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,

and their departure was thought to be a disaster,

3and their going from us to be their destruction;

but they are at peace.

4For though in the sight of others they were punished,

their hope is full of immortality.

5Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,

because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;

6like gold in the furnace he tried them,

and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them.

and the Lord will reign over them for ever.

9Those who trust in him will understand truth,

and the faithful will abide with him in love,

because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,

and he watches over his elect.

This is the Word of the Lord.

The just man, though he die early, shall be at rest.

For the age that is honorable comes not with the passing of time,

            Nor can it be measured in terms of years.

Rather, understanding is the hoary crown for men,

            And an unsullied life, the attainment of old age.

He who pleased God was loved;

            He who lived among sinners was transported,

Snatched away, lest wickedness pervert his mind

            Or deceit beguile his soul.

For the witchery of paltry things obscures what is right

            And the whirl of desire transforms the innocent mind.

Having become perfect in a shore while, he reached the fullness

            Of a long career; for his soul was pleasing to the Lord.

            Therefore he sped him out of the midst of wickedness.

But the people saw and did not understand,

            Nor did they take this into account.

This is the Word of the Lord.

A reading form the book of the prophet Isaiah

On this mountain the Lord of hosts

            Will provide for all peoples.

On this mountain he will destroy

            The veil that veils all peoples,

The web that is woven over all nations;

            He will destroy death forever.

The Lord God will wipe away

            The tears form all faces;

The reproach of his people he will remove

            From the whole earth; for the Lord has spoken

On that day is will be said:

“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!

            This is the Lord for whom we looked;

            Let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”

This is the Word of the Lord.

A reading from the book of Lamentation

My soul is deprived of Peace,

I have forgotten what happiness is;

I tell myself my future is not lost

All that I hoped for from the Lord.

The thought of my homeless poverty

Is wormwood and gall;

Remembering it over and over

Leaves my soul downcast within me.

But I will call this to mind,

As my reason to have hope:

The favors of the Lord are not exhausted,

His mercies are not spent:

They are renewed each morning,

So great is his faithfulness.

My portion is the Lord, says my soul;

Therefore will I hope in him.

Good is the Lord to one who waits for him,

To the soul that seeks him;

It is good to hope in silence

For saving the help of the Lord.

This is the Word of the Lord.

A reading from the Prophet Daniel

[I, Daniel, mourned and I heard this word of the Lord:]

“At that time there shall arise,

Michael. The great prince,

Guardian of you people;

It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress

Since nations began until that time.

At that time your people shall escape,

Everyone who is found written in the book.

Many of those who sleep

In the dust of the earth shall awake;

Some shall live forever,

Others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.

But the wise shall shine brightly

Like the splendor of the firmament,

And those who lead the many to justice

Shall be like the stars forever.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

A reading from the Book of Maccabees

Judas {The ruler of Israel) then took up a collection among all

His soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas,

Which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice.

In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way,

In as much as he ahd the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he

Were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been  useless

And foolish to pray for tehm in death.  But if he did this with a

View to the splendid  reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in

Godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.

Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Having been justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s anger through him.

Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

This is the Word of the Lord

Let us walk in the newness of life.

Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.

This is the Word of the Lord

All people will be brought to life in Christ.

Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for “he subjected everything under his feet.” But when it says that everything has been subjected, it is clear that it excludes the One who subjected everything to him. When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

This is the Word of the Lord

Whether alive or dead, we belong to the Lord

None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written:

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.

This is the Word of the Lord

All people will be brought to life in Christ.

Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for “he subjected everything under his feet.” But when it says that everything has been subjected, it is clear that it excludes the One who subjected everything to him. When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

This is the Word of the Lord

Death is swallowed up in victory.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality. And when that which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and that which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the Word of the Lord

What is seen is transitory; what is unseen is eternal.

We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but we is unseen is eternal.

For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.

This is the Word of the Lord

Philippians 3:20-21

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Philippians 3:20-21

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

This is the Word of the Lord.

We do not want you to be unaware; brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words. 

This is the Word of the Lord. 

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of Chains, like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy:

If we have died with him

              We shall also live with him

If we persevere

         We shall also reign with him.

But if we deny him

He will deny us.

If we are unfaithful

            He remains unfaithful,

            For he cannot deny himself.

This is the Word of the Lord.

See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

This is the Word of the Lord.

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

This is the Word of the Lord.

I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the name of the Lord from now on.” “Yes” said the Spirit, “Let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

I was a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city , a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. HE will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. HE will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing, or pain, for the old order has passed away.”

The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son.”

This is the Word of the Lord