Bible Readings - Apr. 19, 2025

Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28

The word of the LORD came to me, saying:

Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their land,

they defiled it by their conduct and deeds.

Therefore I poured out my fury upon them

because of the blood that they poured out on the ground,

and because they defiled it with idols.

I scattered them among the nations,

dispersing them over foreign lands;

according to their conduct and deeds I judged them.

But when they came among the nations wherever they came,

they served to profane my holy name,

because it was said of them: "These are the people of the LORD,

yet they had to leave their land."

So I have relented because of my holy name

which the house of Israel profaned

among the nations where they came.

Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD:

Not for your sakes do I act, house of Israel,

but for the sake of my holy name,

which you profaned among the nations to which you came.

I will prove the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations,

in whose midst you have profaned it.

Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,

when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.

For I will take you away from among the nations,

gather you from all the foreign lands,

and bring you back to your own land.

I will sprinkle clean water upon you

to cleanse you from all your impurities,

and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,

taking from your bodies your stony hearts

and giving you natural hearts.

I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,

careful to observe my decrees.

You shall live in the land I gave your fathers;

you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19

A clean heart create for me, O God,

and a steadfast spirit renew within me.

Cast me not out from your presence,

and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,

and a willing spirit sustain in me.

I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners shall return to you.

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;

should I offer a holocaust, you would not accept it.

My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;

a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Romans 6:3-11

Or 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.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,

we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.

We know that our old self was crucified with him,

so that our sinful body might be done away with,

that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.

For a dead person has been absolved from sin.

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.

As to his death, he died to sin once and for all;

as to his life, he lives for God.

Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin

and living for God in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

for his mercy endures forever.

Let the house of Israel say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

The right hand of the LORD has struck with power;

the right hand of the LORD is exalted.

I shall not die, but live,

and declare the works of the LORD.

The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

By the LORD has this been done;

it is wonderful in our eyes.

Gospel

John 14:15-21, 23b-28

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you

another Advocate to be with you always,

the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept,

because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it,

because it remains with you, and will be in you.

I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

In a little while the world will no longer see me,

but you will see me, because I live and you will live.

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father

and you are in me and I in you.

Whoever has my commandments and observes them

is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me

will be loved by my Father, and I will love him

and reveal myself to him.”

“Whoever loves me will keep my word,

and my Father will love him, and we will come to him

and make our dwelling with him.

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;

yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.

"I have told you this while I am with you.

The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name

—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’

If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;

for the Father is greater than I.