YHWH said to Joshua, “Today I rolled away
from you the reproach of Egypt.”
During their encampment at Gilgal, the
Children of Israel offered the Passover
sacrifice at sunset on the fourteenth day of
the month on the plains of Jericho. On the
day after the Passover they ate the produce

of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted
grain. On that same day, after the Passover
on which they ate of the unleavened cakes
and roasted grain, the manna stopped falling
for the Children of Israel. They ate the
crops of Canaan from that year on.

Response: O taste and see that God is good!

I will bless God at all times, / praise will continually be in my mouth.
My soul will rejoice in Our God, let the humble hear it and be glad.
R: O taste and see that God is good!

Glorify Our God with me / and let us exalt God’s Name together.
I sought Our God who answered me / and freed me from all my fears.
R: O taste and see that God is good!

Those who look to Our God are radiant, / their faces are never put to shame.
The poor called; Our God heard / and saved them out of all their troubles.
R: O taste and see that God is good!

And for anyone who is in Christ, there is
new creation. The old order has passed
away; now everything is new!
All of this is from God, who ransomed us
through Christ — and made us ministers of
that reconciliation. This means that through
Christ, the world was fully reconciled again
to God, who did not hold our transgressions
against us, but instead entrusted us with this

message of reconciliation. This makes us
Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were
making the appeal directly through us.
Therefore we implore you in Christ’s name
be reconciled to God. For our sake, God
made the One who was without sin to be sin,
so that by this means we might become the
very holiness of God.

NARRATOR: The tax collectors and the
“sinners” were all gathering around Jesus to
listen to his teaching, at which the Pharisees
and the religious scholars murmured, “This
person welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus addressed this parable to them:
“A man had two children. The younger of
them said to their father,

FIRST SON: Give me the share of the
estate that is coming to me.

NARRATOR: So the father divided up
the property between them. Some days
later, the younger son gathered up his
belongings and went off to a distant land.
Here he squandered all his money on
loose living.

After everything was spent, a great famine broke
over the land, and the son was in great need. So
he went to a landowner, who sent him to a farm
to take care of the pigs. The was so hungry that
he could have eaten the husks that were fodder
for the pigs, but no one made a move to give him
anything. Coming to his senses at last, he said:

FIRST SON: How many hired hands at
my father’s house have more than enough
to eat, while here I am starving! I will quit
and go back home and say, “I have sinned
against God and against you; I no longer
deserve to be called one of your children.
Treat me like one of your hired hands.”

NARRATOR: With that, the younger
son set off for his home.
While still a long way off, the father
caught sight of the returning child and was
deeply moved. The father ran out to meet
him, threw his arms around him, and
kissed him. The son said to him:

FIRST SON: I have sinned against God and
against you; I no longer deserve to be called
one of your children.

NARRATOR: But his father said to one
of the workers:

FATHER: Quick! Bring out the finest robe
and put it him; put a ring on his finger and
shoes on his feet. Take the calf we have been
fattening and butcher it. Let us eat and
celebrate! This son of mine was dead and has
come back to life. He was lost and now he is
found.

NARRATOR: And the celebration began.
Meanwhile the elder son had been out in the
field. As he neared house, he heard the
sound of music and dancing. He called one
of the workers and asked:

SECOND SON: What is happening?

NARRATOR: The worker answered, “Your
brother is home, and the fatted calf has been
killed because your father has him back safe and
sound.”

The son got angry at this and refused to go in
to the party, but his father came out and
pleaded with him. He said in reply:

SECOND SON: Look! For years now I have
done every single thing you asked me to do. I
never disobeyed even one of your orders, yet
you never gave me so much as a kid goat to
celebrate with my friends. But then this son of
yours comes home after going through your
money with prostitutes, you kill the fatted calf
for him.

FATHER: But my child! You are with me
always, and everything I have is yours. But
we have to celebrate and rejoice! This brother
of yours was dead and has come back to life.
He was lost and now he is found.