Readings for Easter Vigil

Easter Vigil

Exodus 14:10-15:1
As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the
Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to
the Lord.  They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in
Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you
done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?  Is this not the very thing we told you
in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have
been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the
deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians
whom you see today you shall never see again.  The Lord will fight for you,
and you have only to keep still.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you
cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff,
and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may
go into the sea on dry ground.  Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians
so that they will go in after them; and so, I will gain glory for myself over
Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. 
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory
for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.” The angel of
God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them;
and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind
them.  It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so,
the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not
come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the
sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned
the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into
the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and
on their left.  The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of
Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.  At the morning watch
the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army,
and threw the Egyptian army into panic.  He clogged their chariot wheels so
that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the
Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.” Then
the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water
may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot
drivers.”  So, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea
returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed
the Egyptians into the sea.  The waters returned and covered the chariots and
the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into
the sea; not one of them remained.  But the Israelites walked on dry ground
through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on
their left.  Thus, the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and
Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that
the Lord did against the Egyptians. So, the people feared the Lord and
believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Then Moses and the
Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he has
triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.

Canticle 8, Song of Moses
I will sing to the Lord, for he is lofty and uplifted;
the horse and its rider has he hurled into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my refuge;
the Lord has become my Savior.
This is my God and I will praise him,
the God of my people and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a mighty warrior;
Yahweh is his Name.
The chariots of Pharoah and his army has he hurled into the sea;
the finest of those who bear armor have been drowned in the Red Sea.
The fathomless deep has overwhelmed them;
they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in might;
your right hand, O Lord, has overthrown the enemy.
Who can be compared with you, O Lord, among the gods?
who is like you, glorious in holiness, awesome in renown, and
worker of wonders?
You stretched forth your right hand;
the earth swallowed them up.
With your constant love you led the people you redeemed;
with your might you brought them in safety to your holy dwelling.
You will bring them in and plant them
on the mount of your possession,
The resting-place you have made for yourself, O Lord,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hand has established.
The Lord shall reign
forever and forever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was
in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the
spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full
of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the
valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones
live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me,
“Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word
of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath
to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause
flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you,
and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So, I
prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly
there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its
bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come
upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say
to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O
breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied
as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived,
and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, “Mortal,
these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are
dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore
prophesy, and say to them, thus says the Lord God: I am going to open
your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I
will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am
the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves,
O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I
will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord,
have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

Psalm 30
Exaltabo te, Domine
1 I will exalt you, O LORD, because you have lifted me up
and have not let my enemies’ triumph over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried out to you,
and you restored me to health.
3 You brought me up, O LORD, from the dead;
you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.
4 Sing to the LORD, you servants of his;
give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.
5 For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye,
his favor for a lifetime.
6 Weeping may spend the night,
but joy comes in the morning.
7 While I felt secure, I said, “I shall never be disturbed.
You, LORD, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains.”
8 Then you hid your face,
and I was filled with fear.
9 I cried to you, O LORD;
I pleaded with the Lord, saying,
10 “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit?
will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?
11 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me;
O LORD, be my helper.”
12 You have turned my wailing into dancing;
you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.
13 Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

THE COLLECT
O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s
resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to
us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship
you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

FIRST LESSON: Romans 6:3-11 3
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him by
baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have
been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him
in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him
so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be
enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died
with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that
Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has
dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the
life he lives, he lives to God. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to
sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God

PSALM: Psalm 114
1 Hallelujah! When Israel came out of Egypt, *
the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary *
and Israel his dominion.
3 The sea beheld it and fled; *
Jordan turned and went back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams, *
and the little hills like young sheep.
5 What ailed you, O sea, that you fled? *
O Jordan, that you turned back?
6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams? *
you little hills like young sheep?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, *
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 Who turned the hard rock into a pool of water *
and flint-stone into a flowing spring.

THE GOSPEL of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:
Mark 16:1-8 1 People: Glory to You Lord Christ
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they
went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll
away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up,
they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe,
sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do
not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.
He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.
But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee;
there you will see him, just as he told you.” So, they went out and fled from
the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing
to anyone, for they were afraid.
Reader: The Gospel of the Lord People: Praise to you, Lord Christ