Holy Saturday - Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter

Official Translation

At least 3 of the first 7 readings, or up to 7, but always read “Reading 3” from Exodus.

Reading 1 – Genesis 1.1-2.2 or 1.1, 26-31a

In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was formless and empty.
Darkness was on the surface of the deep
and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God saw the light, and saw that it was good.
God divided the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day”,
and the darkness he called “night”.
There was evening and there was morning, the first day.

God said, “Let there be an expanse
in the middle of the waters,
and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
God made the expanse,
and divided the waters which were under the expanse
from the waters which were above the expanse;
and it was so.
God called the expanse “sky”.
There was evening and there was morning, the second day.

God said, “Let the waters under the sky
be gathered together to one place,
and let the dry land appear”;
and it was so.
God called the dry land “earth”,
and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”.
God saw that it was good.
God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds,
and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it,
on the earth”; and it was so.
The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind,
and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind;
and God saw that it was good.
There was evening and there was morning, the third day.

God said, “Let there be lights
in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night;
and let them be for signs to mark
seasons, days, and years;
and let them be for lights
in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth”;
and it was so.
God made the two great lights:
the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night.
He also made the stars.
God set them in the expanse of sky
to give light to the earth,
and to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the light from the darkness.
God saw that it was good.
There was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth
in the open expanse of sky.”
God created the large sea creatures
and every living creature that moves,
with which the waters swarmed,
after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind.
God saw that it was good.
God blessed them, saying,
“Be fruitful, and multiply,
and fill the waters in the seas,
and let birds multiply on the earth.”
There was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind,
livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind”;
and it was so.
God made the animals of the earth after their kind,
and the livestock after their kind,
and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind.
God saw that it was good.
God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea,
and over the birds of the sky,
and over the livestock,
and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
God created man in his own image.
In God’s image he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them.
God said to them,
“Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the sky,
and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed,
which is on the surface of all the earth,
and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed.
It will be your food.
To every animal of the earth,
and to every bird of the sky,
and to everything that creeps on the earth,
in which there is life,
I have given every green herb for food;”
and it was so.
God saw everything that he had made,
and, behold, it was very good.
There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.
On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done;
and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

Responsorial – Psalm 104.1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24, 35 Resp. 30

R. Lord, send out your Spirit; renew the face of the earth.

Bless the Lord, my soul.
Lord, my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty;
covered with light as with a garment.

R. Lord, send out your Spirit; renew the face of the earth.

You laid the foundations of the earth,
that it should not be moved forever.
You covered it with the deep as with a cloak.
The waters stood above the mountains.

R. Lord, send out your Spirit; renew the face of the earth.

You send springs into the valleys.
They run among the mountains.
The birds of the sky nest by them.
They sing among the branches.

R. Lord, send out your Spirit; renew the face of the earth.

You water the mountains from your rooms.
The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock,
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may produce food out of the earth:

R. Lord, send out your Spirit; renew the face of the earth.

O Lord, how many are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all. The earth is full of your riches.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Alleluia.

R. Lord, send out your Spirit; renew the face of the earth.

Or Psalm 33.4-5, 6-7, 12-13, 20+22 Resp. 5b

R. The earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord.

The word of the Lord is right.
All his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice.
The earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord.

R. The earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord.

By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made;
all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap.
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.

R. The earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
The Lord looks from heaven.
He sees all the sons of men.

R. The earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord.

Our soul has waited for the Lord.
He is our help and our shield.
Let your loving kindness be on us, O Lord,
since we have hoped in you.

R. The earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord.

Reading 2 – Genesis 22.1-18 or 22.1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

God tested Abraham
and said to him, “Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
God said,
“Take your son, your only son,
whom you love, Isaac himself,
and go into the land of Moriah.
Offer him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains
which I will point out to you.”

Abraham rose early in the morning,
and saddled his donkey,
and took two of his young men with him,
and Isaac his son.
He split the wood for the burnt offering,
and rose up, and went
to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes,
and saw the place far off.
Abraham said to his young men,
“Stay here with the donkey.
The boy and I will go yonder.
We will worship, and come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering
and laid it on Isaac his son.
He took in his hand the fire and the knife.
They both went together.
Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?”
He said, “Here I am, my son.”
He said, “Here is the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Abraham said, “God will provide himself
the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”
So they both went together.

When they came to the place
which God had pointed out to him,
Abraham built the altar there,
and laid the wood in order,
bound Isaac his son,
and laid him on the altar, on the wood.
Then Abraham stretched out his hand,
and took the knife to kill his son.
The Lord’s angel called to him from heaven
and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy,
nor do anything to him.
For now I know that you fear God,
since you have not withheld
your son, your only son, from me.”

Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and saw
that behind him was a ram
caught in the thicket by his horns.
Abraham went and took the ram,
and offered it up for a burnt offering
instead of his son.
Abraham called the name of that place:
Yahweh-yireh.
As it is said to this day,
“On the mountain, the Lord will see.”

The Lord’s angel called to Abraham
a second time from heaven,
and said, “I have sworn by myself, says the Lord,
because you have done this thing,
and have not withheld your son, your only son,
that I will bless you greatly,
and I will multiply your seed greatly
like the stars of the heavens,
and like the sand which is on the seashore.
Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.
All the nations of the earth
will be blessed by your seed,
because you have obeyed my voice.”

Responsorial – Psalm 16.5, 8, 9-10, 11 Resp. 1

R. O Lord, you are my inheritance.

The Lord assigned my portion and my cup.
You made my lot secure.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

R. O Lord, you are my inheritance.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices.
My body shall also dwell in safety.
For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,
nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption.

R. O Lord, you are my inheritance.

You will show me the path of life.
In your presence is fullness of joy.
In your right hand there are delights forevermore.

R. O Lord, you are my inheritance.

Reading 3 – Exodus 14.15-15.1

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me?
Speak to the children of Israel;
tell them to go forward.
Lift up your rod,
and stretch out your hand over the sea,
and divide it:
and the children of Israel
shall go into the middle of the sea
on dry ground.

Behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians,
and they shall go in after them:
and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh,
and over all his armies, over his chariots,
and over his horsemen.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord,
when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh,
over his chariots, and over his horsemen.”

The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel,
moved and went behind them;
and the pillar of cloud moved from before them,
and stood behind them.
It came between the camp of Egypt
and the camp of Israel;
and there was the cloud and the darkness,
so the night passed,
and the one did not come near the other all the night.

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and the Lord caused the sea
to go back by a strong east wind all the night,
and made the sea dry land,
and the waters were divided.
The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea
on the dry ground,
and the waters were a wall to them
on their right hand, and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued,
and went in after them
into the middle of the sea:
all of Pharaoh’s horses,
his chariots, and his horsemen.
In the morning watch,
the Lord looked out on the Egyptian army
through the pillar of fire and of cloud,
and confused the Egyptian army.
He clogged their chariot wheels,
and they drove them heavily;
so that the Egyptians said,
“Let us flee from the face of Israel,
for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians!”


The Lord said to Moses,
“Stretch out your hand over the sea,
that the waters may come again
over the Egyptians, their chariots, and their horsemen.”
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and the sea returned to its strength
when the morning appeared;
and the Egyptians fled against it.
The Lord overthrew the Egyptians
in the middle of the sea.
The waters returned,
and covered the chariots and the horsemen,
even all Pharaoh’s army
that went in after them into the sea.
There remained not a single one.

But the children of Israel
walked on dry land in the middle of the sea,
and the waters were a wall to them
on their right hand, and on their left.
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day
out of the hand of the Egyptians;
and Israel saw the Egyptians
dead on the seashore.
Israel saw the great work
which the Lord did to the Egyptians,
and the people feared the Lord;
and they believed in the Lord,
and in his servant Moses.

Then Moses and the children of Israel
sang this song to the Lord, and said,
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously.
The horse and the chariot
he has thrown into the sea.

Responsorial – Exodus 15.1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18 Resp. 1b

R. Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.

I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.
The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and song.
He has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise him;
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

R. Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.

The Lord is a warrior.
Lord is his name.
He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea.
His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.

R. Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.

The deeps cover them.
They went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, Lord, is glorious in power.
Your right hand, Lord, dashes the enemy into pieces.

R. Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.

You shall bring them in, the people you redeemed,
and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,
the place, the Lord, which you have made for yourself to dwell in;
the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.
The Lord shall reign forever and ever.

R. Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.

Reading 4 – Isaiah 54.5-14

Your Maker is your husband;
the Lord of Hosts is his name:
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of the Whole Earth.
For the Lord has called you
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
even a wife of youth, cast off,
says your God.

For a small moment have I forsaken you;
but with great mercies will I gather you.
In overflowing wrath
I hid my face from you for a moment;
but with everlasting loving kindness
will I have mercy on you,
says the Lord your Redeemer.

This is for me like the waters of Noah;
for as I have sworn that
the waters of Noah
shall never again go over the earth,
so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you,
nor rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart,
and the hills be removed;
but my loving kindness shall not depart from you,
nor shall my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the Lord who has mercy on you.

You afflicted,
tossed with storms,
and not comforted,
behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors,
and lay your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
and your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the Lord;
and great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness you shall be established:
you shall be far from oppression,
for you shall not be afraid;
and from terror,
for it shall not come near you.

Responsorial – Psalm 30.2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13 Resp. 2a

R. I will extol you, the Lord, for you have raised me up.

I will extol you, the Lord, for you have raised me up,
and have not made my foes to rejoice over me.
Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol.
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

R. I will extol you, the Lord, for you have raised me up.

Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of his.
Give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment.
His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may last all night,
but joy comes in the morning.

R. I will extol you, the Lord, for you have raised me up.

Hear, Lord, and have mercy on me.
Lord, be my helper.
You have turned my mourning into dancing.
Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

R. I will extol you, the Lord, for you have raised me up.

Reading 5 – Isaiah 55.1-11

Thus says the LORD:
Come, everyone who thirsts,
to the waters!
Come, you who have no money,
buy, and eat!
Yes, come, without money and without price.
drink wine and milk!

Why do you spend money
for what is not bread?
Your labor for
what does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me,
and you will eat what is good,
and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Turn your ear, and come to me;
hear, and your soul shall live:
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
even the mercies assured to David.

Behold, I have made him
a witness to the nations,
a leader and commander to the nations.
Behold, you shall call a nation
that you do not know,’
and a nation that did not know
you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel;
for he has glorified you.

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call you on him while he is near:
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the Lord,
and he will have mercy on him;
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow
come down from the heavens,
and do not return there,
until they water the earth,
and makes it grow and bud,
giving seed to the sower
and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be
that goes out of my mouth:
it shall not return to me void,
but it shall accomplish my will,
and it shall prosper
in what I sent it to do.

Responsorial – Isaiah 12.2-3, 4, 5-6 Resp. 3

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Behold, God is my salvation.
I will trust and will not be afraid;
for the Lord, the Lord, is my strength and song;
and he has become my salvation.
Therefore with joy you will draw water
out of the wells of salvation.

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name.
Declare his deeds among the nations.
Proclaim that his name is exalted!

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Sing to the Lord, for he has done excellent things!
Let this be known in all the earth!
Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion;
For great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel.

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Reading 6 – Baruch 3.9-15, 32-4.4

Hear, Israel, the commandments of life;
listen, to understand wisdom.
How has it happened, Israel,
that you are in your enemies’ land,
that you have grown old in a strange country,
that you are defiled with the dead,
that you are counted with those
who go down into the grave?

You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!
For if you had walked in the way of God,
you would have dwelled in peace for ever.
Learn, where wisdom is,
where strength is, where understanding is,
so that you may know also
where length of days and life are,
where the light of the eyes and peace are.

Who has found out her place?
Or who has come into her treasures?
He who knows all things knows her
and has found her with his understanding:
he who prepared the earth forevermore,
who has filled it with four-footed beasts,
he who sends forth light and it goes,
who calls it again and it obeys him with fear.
The stars shine in their watches and rejoice.
When he calls them, they say, “Here we are!”
And so with cheerfulness
they shine for him who made them.

This is our God,
and no other shall stand in comparison with him.
He has founded all the way of knowledge,
and has given it to Jacob his servant
and Israel his beloved.
Afterward, he revealed himself upon the earth,
and conversed with men.
This is the book of the commandments of God
and the law that endures forever.
All those who keep it shall come to life,
but such as leave it shall die.
Turn, O Jacob, and take hold of it;
walk in the presence of its light
so that you may be illuminated.
Give not your honor to another,
nor the things which are beneficial for you
to a strange nation.
O Israel, happy are we,
for the things which are pleasing to God
are made known to us.

Responsorial – Psalm 19.8, 9, 10, 11 Resp. John 6:68c

R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
restoring the soul.
The covenant of the Lord is sure,
making the simple wise.

R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

The precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The command of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes.

R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.

R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

More to be desired are they than gold,
yes, than a pile of fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
the extract of the honeycomb.

R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

Reading 7 – Ezekiel 36.16-17a, 18-28

The Word of the Lord came to me, saying:
Son of man, when the house of Israel
lived in their own land,
they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds:
Therefore I poured out my wrath on them
for the blood which they had poured out on the land,
and because they had defiled it with their idols;
and I scattered them among the nations,
and they were dispersed through the foreign lands:
according to their ways and according to their deeds
I judged them.

When they came to the nations, where they went,
they profaned my holy name; since men said of them,
“These are the people of the Lord,
and are gone out of his land.”
But I had respect for my holy name,
which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations,
where they went.
Therefore tell the house of Israel,
Thus says the Lord God:
I do not do this for your sake, house of Israel,
but for my holy name,
which you have profaned among the nations,
where you went.
I will sanctify my great name,
which has been profaned among the nations,
which you have profaned among them;
and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,
says the Lord God,

I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
For I will take you from among the nations,
and gather you out of all the foreign lands,
and will bring you into your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water on you,
and you shall be clean:
from all your filthiness, and from all your idols,
will I cleanse you.

I will also give you a new heart,
and I will put a new spirit within you;
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I will give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my Spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in my statutes,
and you shall keep my ordinances and do them.
You shall dwell in the land
that I gave to your fathers,
and you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.

Responsorial – Psalm 42:3, 5, 43:3, 4 Resp. 42.2 (When baptism is celebrated)

R. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.

My soul thirsts for the living God.
When shall I come to see the face of God?

R. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.

I went with the crowd,
and led them to God’s house,
with the voice of joy and praise,
a multitude keeping a holy day.

R. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.

O send out your light and your truth.
Let them lead me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling.

R. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.

Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my exceeding joy.
I will praise you on the harp,
O God, my God.

R. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.

Responsorial – Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6 Resp. 3 (When baptism is not celebrated.)

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Behold, God is my salvation.
I will trust and will not be afraid;
for the Lord, the Lord, is my strength and song;
and he has become my salvation.
Therefore with joy you will draw water
out of the wells of salvation.

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name.
Declare his deeds among the nations.
Proclaim that his name is exalted!

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Sing to the Lord, for he has done excellent things!
Let this be known in all the earth!
Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion;
For great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel.

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Or Psalm 51.12-13, 14-15, 18-19 Resp. 12 (When baptism is not celebrated.)

R. Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
Do not cast me out from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

R. Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways.
Sinners shall be converted to you.

R. Create in me a clean heart, O God.

For you do not delight in sacrifice.
I would give a burnt offering, but you have no pleasure in it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit.
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

R. Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Epistle – Romans 6.3-11

Brothers and Sisters:
Do you not know that whoever was baptized in Christ Jesus
was baptized in his death?
For we are buried together with him by baptism into death
so that, as Christ is risen from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
so we too may walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in a death like his,
so also we will be raised.
Knowing this, that our old humanity is crucified with him,
that the body of sin may be destroyed,
so that we will no longer serve sin.
For the dead one is justified from sin.
Now, if we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live together with him.
Knowing that Christ, rising again from the dead, will not die again
Death no longer has power over you.
For the death that he died,
he died to sin one time;
but the life is life with God.
Thus consider yourselves also
to be dead with respect to sin,
but alive with God
in Christ Jesus.

Responsorial – Psalm 118.1-2, 16-17, 22-23

R. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
Let Israel now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.

R. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
The right hand of the Lord is exalted!
I will not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord.

R. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.

R. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel – Mark 16.1-7

When the Sabbath was over,
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome,
bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.
Very early on the first day of the week,
they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
They were saying among themselves,
“Who will roll away the stone
from the entrance of the tomb for us?”
Looking ahead,
they saw that the stone was rolled back.
It was very large.
Entering into the tomb,
they saw a young man sitting on the right side,
dressed in a white robe,
and they were amazed.

He said to them, “Do not be amazed.
You seek Jesus of Nazareth the crucified.
He has been raised. He is not here.
Behold, the place where they laid him.
But go, tell his disciples and Peter,
‘He goes before you into Galilee.
There you will see him, as he said to you.’”

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