Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.

Brothers and sisters: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

[Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So] the sisters (of Lazarus) sent word to Jesus saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, “This is truly the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?

I knew their plot because the Lord informed me; at that time you, O Lord, showed me their doings.

The wicked said among themselves,/ thinking not aright:/ “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;/ he sets himself against our doings,/ Reproaches us for transgressions of the law/ and ­charges us with violations of our training./ He professes to have knowledge of God/ and styles himself a child of the Lord./ To us he is the censure of our thoughts;/ merely to see him is a hardship for us,/ Because his life is not like that of ­others,/ and different are his ways./ He ­judges us debased;/ he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure./ He calls blest the destiny of the just/ and boasts that God is his Father./ Let us see ­whether his words be true;/ let us find out what will happen to him./ For if the just one be the son of God, he will ­defend him/ and deliver him from the hand of his foes./ With ­revilement and torture let us put him to the test/ that we may have proof of his gentleness/ and try his patience./ Let us condemn him to a shameful death;/ for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”/ These were their thoughts, but they erred;/ for their wickedness blinded them,/ and they knew not the hidden counsels of God;/ neither did they count on a recompense of ­holiness/ nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.

Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him.

Brothers and sisters: It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith.

The Lord spoke to Nathan and said: “Go, tell my servant David, ‘When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm.

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.