Psalm 2:1–6, 10–12

¹Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
²The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
³“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

⁴He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
⁵Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

¹⁰Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
¹²Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessèd are all who take refuge in him.

Old Testament Reading Job 36:1–21

¹And Elihu continued, and said:

²“Bear with me a little, and I will show you,
for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.
³I will get my knowledge from afar
and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
⁴For truly my words are not false;
one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
⁵“Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any;
he is mighty in strength of understanding.
⁶He does not keep the wicked alive,
but gives the afflicted their right.
⁷He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,
but with kings on the throne
he sets them forever, and they are exalted.
⁸And if they are bound in chains
and caught in the cords of affliction,
⁹then he declares to them their work
and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.
¹⁰He opens their ears to instruction
and commands that they return from iniquity.
¹¹If they listen and serve him,
they complete their days in prosperity,
and their years in pleasantness.
¹²But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword
and die without knowledge.
¹³“The godless in heart cherish anger;
they do not cry for help when he binds them.
¹⁴They die in youth,
and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.
¹⁵He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
and opens their ear by adversity.
¹⁶He also allured you out of distress
into a broad place where there was no cramping,
and what was set on your table was full of fatness.
¹⁷“But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;
judgment and justice seize you.
¹⁸Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,
and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
¹⁹Will your cry for help avail to keep you from distress,
or all the force of your strength?
²⁰Do not long for the night,
when peoples vanish in their place.
²¹Take care; do not turn to iniquity,
for this you have chosen rather than affliction.”

New Testament Reading John 11:38–57

³⁸Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, ⁴⁶but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” ⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵²and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

⁵⁴Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. ⁵⁶They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.