Easter readings across the Christian traditions

01 How Easter readings are chosen

Easter readings are appointed across every tradition with a liturgical lectionary; the parish observes the rite as the tradition has published it. Catholic practice has the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, Easter Day Mass) as the highest-weight liturgical observance of the year; readings are fixed in the Roman Missal. Orthodox Pascha follows appointed Paschal readings; the Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy reads fifteen Old Testament passages, and the midnight Pascha Liturgy reads Acts 1:1-8 and John 1:1-17.

Anglican / Episcopal practice follows the 1979 Book of Common Prayer's Great Vigil of Easter (parallel to the Catholic Vigil) and the Easter Day readings, drawn from the Revised Common Lectionary in most US parishes. Mainline Protestant (Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed) traditions follow the Revised Common Lectionary, often pairing Luke 24 with 1 Corinthians 15 on Easter Sunday. Evangelical Easter services typically pair Matthew 28 or John 20 with 1 Corinthians 15; the pastor selects.

02 The principal readings

Eleven scripture passages cover most of what is heard at US Christian Easter services. The pill on each row notes the convention or category; Bible1.org links open the full chapter, and the deuterocanonical Baruch 3 links to the USCCB's NABRE.

03 Tradition-specific selections

The selections diverge significantly across traditions, especially in the form and length of the Vigil.

Catholic Easter Vigil

The Catholic Easter Vigil is the highest-weight liturgical service in the Christian calendar in Catholic practice. The rite has four parts: the Service of Light (the lighting of the Paschal candle, the Exsultet), the Liturgy of the Word (up to seven Old Testament readings plus the Epistle and Gospel), the Liturgy of Baptism (the renewal of baptismal vows; baptisms of new Catholics where applicable), and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The seven Old Testament readings: Genesis 1:1-2:2 (creation), Genesis 22:1-18 (Isaac), Exodus 14:15-15:1 (Red Sea, obligatory), Isaiah 54:5-14, Isaiah 55:1-11, Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4, Ezekiel 36:16-28. Most US parishes read four to five of these. The Epistle: Romans 6:3-11. The Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10 (Year A), Mark 16:1-7 (Year B), Luke 24:1-12 (Year C).

Catholic Easter Sunday Mass

Acts 10:34a, 37-43; the responsorial psalm (118); 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8 or Colossians 3:1-4; the Easter Sequence ("Victimae paschali laudes"); John 20:1-9. Easter Vespers in many parishes adds the Emmaus reading (Luke 24:13-35).

Orthodox Pascha

The Orthodox Paschal cycle is the highest-weight observance of the Orthodox year. The Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy reads fifteen Old Testament passages tracing salvation history: Genesis 1, Isaiah 60, Exodus 12, Jonah 1-4, Joshua 5, Exodus 13-15, Zephaniah 3, 1 Kings 17, Isaiah 61-62, Genesis 22, Isaiah 61, 2 Kings 4, Isaiah 63, Jeremiah 31, Daniel 3. The midnight Pascha Liturgy reads Acts 1:1-8 (Christ's ascension promise) and John 1:1-17 (the Prologue read as a Resurrection text), with the Paschal greeting "Christ is risen!" and the response "Truly he is risen!" exchanged throughout.

Anglican / Episcopal Easter Vigil

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer's Great Vigil of Easter follows the Catholic shape with similar Old Testament readings (a subset normally chosen), the Epistle (Romans 6:3-11), and the Resurrection Gospel. The 2019 ACNA BCP carries a similar pattern. Most US Episcopal parishes hold the Vigil on Holy Saturday evening; some hold it at sunrise on Easter Day.

Mainline Protestant Easter

Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed Easter services typically pair Luke 24:1-12 or 13-35 (or John 20:1-18) with 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 or Acts 10:34-43. Many Lutheran and Episcopal parishes hold a Lenten-into-Easter Vigil that follows the Catholic pattern.

Evangelical Easter services

Evangelical Easter services (typically Sunday morning, sometimes preceded by a sunrise service) usually pair Matthew 28:1-10 or John 20:1-18 with 1 Corinthians 15. The sermon is the central proclamation; the readings frame it. Many Evangelical churches hold a Good Friday service the preceding Friday with appointed Passion readings.

04 The Mark 16 textual question

The Gospel of Mark, alone among the four Gospels, ends in the earliest manuscripts at 16:8: "Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." The "longer ending" (16:9-20), describing post-Resurrection appearances and a version of the Great Commission, appears in many later manuscripts (including Codex Alexandrinus and the Byzantine textual tradition) but is absent from the oldest and most reliable manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, both fourth century).

Catholic teaching (since the Council of Trent) holds Mark 16:9-20 as canonical; the passage is read in the Catholic lectionary at the Ascension and elsewhere. Catholic Bibles include the longer ending without textual note. Orthodox teaching similarly includes the longer ending as canonical. Anglican and Lutheran tradition includes the longer ending in liturgical use, often with a translator's note. Most contemporary Protestant translations (NIV, ESV, NASB, NRSV) include the longer ending but bracket it with a textual note explaining its absence from the earliest manuscripts; some translations include a "shorter ending" found in a few manuscripts alongside the longer.

The pastoral question is what is read at Easter. In Catholic and Orthodox practice the longer ending is heard; in many Protestant practices the Vigil Gospel for Mark Year B (Mark 16:1-7) ends at v. 7 or v. 8 by lectionary convention rather than going into the contested verses. The site's editorial discipline on contested questions (Decision 10) is to name the textual dispute, name the traditions accurately, and not take a position on canonicity.

05 Common questions

06 Pastoral note