ALL SAINTS' SUNDAY YEAR B
Sunday between 30 October and 5 November
(or, if this is not kept as All Saints' Sunday, 1 November itself)


FIRST READING (Alternative readings)

Either Wisdom of Solomon 3.1-9
A reading from the book of Wisdom.
1 The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
3 and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.
4 For though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality.
5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
6 like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble.
8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever.
9 Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.

Or Isaiah 25.6-9

A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death for ever.
8 Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.


PSALM Psalm 24.1-6

RR The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God [no torment will ever touch them].

1 The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein.
2 For it is he who founded it upon the seas and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep. RR
3 'Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? and who can stand in his holy place?'
4 'Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud. RR
5 They shall receive a blessing from the Lord and a just reward from the God of their salvation.'
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob. RR


SECOND READING Revelation 21.1-6a

A reading from the book of Revelation.
1 I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.'
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, 'See, I am making all things new.' Also he said, 'Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.'
6 Then he said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.'


GOSPEL John 11.32-44

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.
34 He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.'
35 Jesus began to weep.
36 So the Jews said, 'See how he loved him!'
37 But some of them said, 'Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?'
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
39 Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, 'Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.'
40 Jesus said to her, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?'
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, 'Father, I thank you for having heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.'
43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!'
44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.'