Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                              19 April 2025

Isaiah 65:17–25

₁₇"Behold, I create new heavens

         and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

         or come into mind.

₁₈But be glad and rejoice forever

         in that which I create;

for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,

         and her people to be a gladness.

₁₉I will rejoice in Jerusalem

         and be glad in my people;

no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping

         and the cry of distress.

₂₀No more shall there be in it

         an infant who lives but a few days,

         or an old man who does not fill out his days,

for the young man shall die a hundred years old,

         and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

₂₁They shall build houses and inhabit them;

         they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

₂₂They shall not build and another inhabit;

         they shall not plant and another eat;

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

         and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

₂₃They shall not labor in vain

         or bear children for calamity,

for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,

         and their descendants with them.

₂₄Before they call I will answer;

         while they are yet speaking I will hear.

₂₅The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;

         the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

         and dust shall be the serpent's food.

They shall not hurt or destroy

         in all my holy mountain,"

says the Lord.

Psalm 16

₁Preserve me, | O God,*

         for in you I take | refuge.

₂I say to the Lord, "You | are my Lord;*

         I have no good a- | part from you."

₃As for the saints | in the land,*

         they are the excellent ones,

         in whom is all | my delight.

₄The sorrows of those who run after another god shall | multiply;*

         their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

         or take their names | on my lips.

₅The Lord is my chosen portion | and my cup;*

         you | hold my lot.

₆The lines have fallen for me in pleasant | places;*

         indeed, I have a beautiful in- | heritance.

₇I bless the Lord who gives me | counsel;*

         in the night also my heart in- | structs me.

₈I have set the Lord always be- | fore me;*

         because he is at my right hand, I shall not be | shaken.

₉Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being re- | joices;*

         my flesh also | dwells secure.

₁₀For you will not abandon my soul | to Sheol,*

         or let your holy one see cor- | ruption.

₁₁You make known to me the | path of life;*

         in your presence there is fullness of joy;

         at your right hand are pleasures for- | evermore.

1 Corinthians 15:19–26

         ₁₉If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

         ₂₀But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ₂₁For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ₂₂For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ₂₃But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ₂₄Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ₂₅For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ₂₆The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Luke 24:1–12

         ₁On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ₂And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ₃but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ₄While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ₅And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? ₆He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ₇that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." ₈And they remembered his words, ₉and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ₁₀Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, ₁₁but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ₁₂But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.