Bible verses for easter and holy week

Holy Week and Easter are the center of the Christian year. The readings for these days are chosen to walk the worshiper from the suffering servant of Isaiah to the crucified Jesus and finally to the empty tomb. Because the sequence matters, these passages are best understood in order, as a single story rather than isolated verses.

1. Isaiah 53:1-12

   “the suffering servant”

   ¹Who has believed our message? To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed? ²For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. ³He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. ⁴Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. ⁵But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth. ⁸He was taken away by oppression and judgment. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people? ⁹They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand. ¹¹After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities. ¹²Therefore I will give him a portion with the great. He will divide the plunder with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

   This is the fourth servant song and the Church's primary Old Testament text for the passion. It describes a righteous figure who suffers silently, bears the sins of others, and is vindicated. Christians have read it as a direct prophecy of Jesus' crucifixion, and it is appointed for Good Friday in many lectionaries. Its imagery of the sheep, the wounds, and the intercession shapes how the death of Christ has been understood for two millennia.

   The passage is about this

   Read Isaiah 53 in full →

2. Luke 23:32-49

   “the crucifixion”

   ³²There were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death. ³³When they came to the place that is called “The Skull”, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots. ³⁵The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” ³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, ³⁷and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸An inscription was also written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” ³⁹One of the criminals who was hanged insulted him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” ⁴³Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” ⁴⁴It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁵The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last. ⁴⁷When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸All the multitudes that came together to see this, when they saw the things that were done, returned home beating their chests. ⁴⁹All his acquaintances and the women who followed with him from Galilee stood at a distance, watching these things.

   This is Luke's account of the crucifixion, with its distinctive details: Jesus asking forgiveness for his executioners, the promise to the penitent thief, the darkness at noon, and the centurion's confession. It is read on Good Friday in churches that use Luke's passion narrative, and it gives a narrative of the death that Holy Week is built around. The passage also shows Jesus' care for others even in his suffering, which is a focal point for meditations on the cross.

   The passage is about this

   Read Luke 23 in full →

3. John 20:1-18

   “the empty tomb”

   ¹Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ²Therefore she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!” ³Therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb. ⁴They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he didn’t enter in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying, ⁷and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed. ⁹For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰So the disciples went away again to their own homes. ¹¹But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, ¹²and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!” ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.

   John's resurrection account is the classic Easter morning reading in many traditions. It moves from Mary Magdalene's discovery of the empty tomb to the race of Peter and the beloved disciple, and then to Mary's encounter with the risen Jesus. The detail of the linen cloths and the personal call by name make it a favorite for the joy of the resurrection. It is appointed for Easter Sunday in the Catholic lectionary and in many Protestant lectionaries.

   The passage is about this

   Read John 20 in full →

4. 1 Corinthians 15:12-22

   “if Christ has not been raised”

   ¹²Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. ¹⁴If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain. ¹⁵Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised. ¹⁷If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable. ²⁰But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep. ²¹For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

   Paul's argument here is the theological ground of Easter. If Christ has not been raised, faith is in vain; but because he has been raised, he is the firstfruits of those who have died. This passage is often read at Easter because it connects the resurrection of Jesus to the hope of all believers. It helps worshipers move from the story of the empty tomb to the meaning of the resurrection for their own faith.

   The passage is about this

   Read 1 Corinthians 15 in full →

5. Psalms 22:1-11

   “my God, why have you forsaken me”

   ¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? ²My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent. ³But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel. ⁴Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them. ⁵They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed. ⁶But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. ⁷All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying, ⁸“He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.” ⁹But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts. ¹⁰I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me. ¹¹Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.

   This lament begins with the cry that Jesus quotes from the cross: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' It is read on Good Friday to show the depth of Christ's suffering and to connect it to the psalms of Israel. The first half of the psalm pictures a mocked and abandoned sufferer; the second half, not included here, turns to praise. Many Good Friday services use this psalm as a response to the reading of the passion.

   The passage is about this

   Worth knowing: This psalm is a lament from the Hebrew scriptures; its application to Jesus comes from his quotation of the first verse on the cross, not from a claim that the original psalm was written as a prediction.

   Read Psalms 22 in full →

Scripture quoted from the World English Bible. The commentary is AI-generated and labelled by what kind of claim it makes; it is not the ruling of any tradition.