Holy Saturday

Job 14:1-17

14:1   “Man who is born of a woman
    is few of days and full of trouble.
2   He comes out like a flower and withers;
    he flees like a shadow and continues not.
3   And do you open your eyes on such a one
    and bring me into judgment with you?
4   Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
    There is not one.
5   Since his days are determined,
    and the number of his months is with you,
    and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
6   look away from him and leave him alone,
    that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.
7   “For there is hope for a tree,
    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
    and that its shoots will not cease.
8   Though its root grow old in the earth,
    and its stump die in the soil,
9   yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put out branches like a young plant.
10   But a man dies and is laid low;
    man breathes his last, and where is he?
11   As waters fail from a lake
    and a river wastes away and dries up,
12   so a man lies down and rises not again;
    till the heavens are no more he will not awake
    or be roused out of his sleep.
13   Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,
    that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,
    that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14   If a man dies, shall he live again?
    All the days of my service I would wait,
    till my renewal should come.
15   You would call, and I would answer you;
    you would long for the work of your hands.
16   For then you would number my steps;
    you would not keep watch over my sin;
17   my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
    and you would cover over my iniquity.

Psalm 130

1 Out of the deep have I called unto you, O LORD;*
  Lord, hear my voice.

2 O let your ears consider well*
  the voice of my supplications.

3 If you, LORD, were to mark what is done amiss,*
  O Lord, who could abide it?

4 For there is mercy with you;*
  therefore you shall be feared.

5 I wait for the LORD; my soul waits for him;*
  in his word is my trust.

6 My soul waits for the Lord,*
  more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, trust in the LORD, for with the LORD there is mercy,*
  and with him is plenteous redemption;

8 And he shall redeem Israel*
  from all their sins.

1 Peter 4:1-8

4:1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Matthew 27:57-66

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.