Sunday after Ascension Day

Ezekiel 39:21-29

21 “And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. 22 The house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward. 23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.

25 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. 29 And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

Psalm 68:1-20

1 Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered;*
  let those who hate him also flee before him.

2 As the smoke vanishes, so shall you drive them away;*
  and as wax melts before the fire, so let the ungodly perish before the presence of God.

3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God;*
  let them also be merry and joyful.

4 O sing unto God, and sing praises unto his Name; magnify him who rides upon the heavens.*
  The LORD is his Name; rejoice before him.

5 He is a father of the fatherless and defends the cause of the widows,*
  God in his holy habitation.

6 He is the God who gives the solitary a home, and brings the prisoners out of captivity,*
  but lets the rebellious dwell in a desert land.

7 O God, when you went forth before the people,*
  when you went through the wilderness,

8 The earth shook, and the heavens poured forth rain at the presence of God,*
  even as Sinai also was moved at the presence of God, who is the God of Israel.

9 You, O God, sent a gracious rain upon your inheritance*
  and refreshed the land when it was weary.

10 Your congregation found a dwelling there,*
  for you, O God, of your goodness have provided for the poor.

11 The Lord gave the word;*
  great was the company of those who proclaimed the tidings.

12 Kings with their armies fled, they fled,*
  and the women at home divided the spoil.

13 Though you have lain among the sheepfolds,*
  yet shall you be like the wings of a dove that are covered with silver, and whose feathers shine like gold.

14 When the Almighty scattered kings,*
  it was as if it snowed in Zalmon.

15 As the hill of Bashan, so is God’s hill,*
  even a high hill, as the hill of Bashan.

16 Why look with envy, you high hills? This is God’s hill, on which it pleases him to dwell;*
  surely, the LORD will abide on it for ever.

17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels,*
  and the Lord has come from Sinai into the holy place.

18 You have gone up on high; you have led captivity captive, and received gifts from men,*
  even from your enemies, that the LORD God might dwell among them.

19 Praised be the Lord daily,*
  even the God who helps us and pours his benefits upon us.

20 He is our God, the God from whom salvation comes;*
  God is the LORD, by whom we escape death.

1 Peter 4:12-19

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And

  “If the righteous is scarcely saved,
    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

John 17:1-11

17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.