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Lenten Season · Easter Vigil Fifth Reading · Year A

Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (3)

Songs of Praise

April 4, 2026

The Song of Moses and Miriam’s Dance (Chludov Psalter), Byzantine illuminator
The Song of Moses and Miriam’s Dance (Chludov Psalter), Byzantine illuminator, 9th centuryState Historical Museum, Moscow
On the psalter page that carries the Song of Moses, the people of Israel walk out between the walls of the sea while Miriam dances with her timbrel to celebrate the crossing.Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation … Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously. (Isaiah sings again the Song of Moses at the sea: “The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation.”)Byzantine illuminatorAn unknown illuminator of the Chludov Psalter, one of the very few illustrated psalters to survive the iconoclast years, painted in the margins beside the text.State Historical Museum, MoscowThe State Historical Museum, Moscow.State Historical Museum, Moscow
Roman Lectionary
GospelMatt. 28:1-10Mt 28:1-10
Second ReadingRom. 6:3-11Rom 6:3-11
First ReadingIsa. 55:1-11Is 55:1-11
Responsorial PsalmIsa. 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (3)Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (3)

Overview & Insights

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isaiah 12:3)

After an act of deliverance of the kind that brought the people out of Egypt, one might expect there to be a song to sing like that in Exodus 15, and so there is; indeed, verse 2 virtually repeats Exodus 15:2.

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Take it further: Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (3)

Commentary

Isaiah 12 Commentary: Words from a WorshipperIs 12 Commentary: Words from a Worshipper Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik reads the Canticle of Isaiah as a short song of salvation drawn from the well, the responsorial's own text.

Isaiah 12 CommentaryIs 12 Commentary Precept Austin

Gathers multiple commentators and word studies on the canticle of thanksgiving that answers the Vigil reading.

Isaiah 12:2 CommentariesIs 12:2 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentary set on 'God is my salvation,' the refrain that opens the responsorial.

Background & Word Study

Isaiah 12 (Hebrew and English)Is 12 (Hebrew and English) Sefaria

The Hebrew canticle with English and Jewish commentary for study of 'with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.'

The Church Fathers

Isaiah 12, CatenaIs 12, Catena Catena

Patristic comment on the canticle, read by the Fathers as a song of the redeemed drawing living water.

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