April 30, 2026 PORTALS OF PRAYER READINGS

 

Mark 15:42-45

Jesus Is Buried

⁴² And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died.^[a] And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. ⁴⁵ And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.

Footnotes

1. Mark 15:44 Or Pilate wondered whether he had already died

Psalm 84

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.^[a] A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

84 How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of hosts!
² My soul longs, yes, faints
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.

³ Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
    ever singing your praise! Selah

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.^[b]
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
    they make it a place of springs;
    the early rain also covers it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength;
    each one appears before God in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
⁹ Behold our shield, O God;
    look on the face of your anointed!

¹⁰ For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
¹² O Lord of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Footnotes

1. Psalm 84:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
2. Psalm 84:5 Hebrew lacks to Zion

ESV® - The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Source for Bible text - www.biblegateway.com