Easter Bible Verses, Resurrection Readings & Printables (KJV)
Easter is the oldest Christian celebration and the shortest argument for the faith: the tomb was empty. Everything below is King James Version — the resurrection accounts, verses to read on Easter morning, a Holy Week plan for the days leading up, and free printables you can hand out at church or around the table.
"He is risen" — the Easter morning verses
All four Gospels record the same morning, and each one keeps a detail the others leave out. Read them together and the scene fills in: the stone, the angels, the linen clothes lying by themselves, and the women who came to anoint a body that was not there.
If you read only one passage on Easter Sunday, read Matthew 28:1-10 aloud. It takes ninety seconds and it contains the sentence the whole church has repeated for two thousand years.
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."Matthew 28:6 (KJV) — read in context
"Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him."Mark 16:6 (KJV) — read in context
"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."Luke 24:5-6 (KJV) — read in context
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."John 20:29 (KJV) — read in context
Read these passages in the KJV Bible reader:
Bible verses about the resurrection
Beyond the Gospel narratives, the apostles keep returning to the resurrection as the hinge of everything they preach. Paul stakes the entire faith on it: if Christ is not raised, the preaching is empty and so is the believing.
These are the verses to read when the holiday is over and the claim still has to hold on a Tuesday.
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."1 Corinthians 15:20 (KJV) — read in context
"Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him."Romans 6:9 (KJV) — read in context
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."1 Peter 1:3 (KJV) — read in context
"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."John 11:25 (KJV) — read in context
Read these passages in the KJV Bible reader:
A Holy Week reading plan, Palm Sunday to Easter
Eight short readings that walk the last week of Christ's life in order. Each one takes under five minutes.
Palm Sunday: Matthew 21:1-11. Monday: Mark 11:12-19 — the cleansing of the temple. Tuesday: Matthew 24:1-14. Wednesday: Matthew 26:1-16. Thursday: John 13:1-17 and Luke 22:14-23 — the upper room. Good Friday: John 18-19. Saturday: Matthew 27:57-66 — the silent day. Easter Sunday: Matthew 28:1-10 and John 20.
Read them at the same time each evening and the week stops being an abstraction. Children in particular remember Holy Week when it is paced day by day rather than compressed into one Sunday morning.
Read these passages in the KJV Bible reader:
A short Easter devotional for the family
Read John 20:1-18. Then ask one question: "Why did Mary not recognise him?"
She was standing in a garden at dawn, talking to a man she assumed was the gardener, three feet from the answer to every grief she had. She recognised him when he said her name. That is the whole shape of Easter — the risen Christ is not a doctrine to be worked out at a distance but a person who knows your name.
Close with 1 Corinthians 15:55: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" and let the question hang.
Read these passages in the KJV Bible reader:
Free printable PDFs for Easter
Every printable is free, KJV, and cleared for church and classroom use — no signup, no watermark.
Easter service kit — order of service and bulletin inserts
The resurrection kit — the Easter acclamation, a Matthew 28 responsive reading, and inserts written for the visitors who only come today.
5 pages · US Letter · order of service, calls to worship, invocation and confession, responsive reading, offering sentence, benediction, two cut-out bulletin inserts, and a planning sheet. No signup.
30 Verses for Easter
Thirty KJV resurrection verses as cut-out cards — perfect for Sunday school and Easter baskets.
Holy Week Reading Plan
The full Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday KJV plan on a single printable page.
Easter verse of the day
Put a free KJV verse widget on your church site or family blog for the whole Easter season — no signup, no cost.
Copy the embed code
<iframe src="https://www.biblesundays.com/embed/verse?ref=isaiah-53-5&theme=light&size=md" width="100%" height="260" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Easter verse of the day"></iframe>Frequently asked questions
What is the best Bible verse for Easter?
Matthew 28:6 — "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." It is the sentence the whole Easter faith rests on, and it is short enough for a card, a banner, or a child to memorise.
Where in the Bible is the resurrection story?
In all four Gospels: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20-21. Paul's summary of the resurrection appearances is in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.
Is Easter in the Bible?
The word "Easter" appears once in the KJV, at Acts 12:4, where it translates the Greek pascha (Passover). The holiday name is later church usage, but the event it celebrates — the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week — is recorded in every Gospel.
What should we read on Easter morning?
Matthew 28:1-10 before breakfast, John 20:1-18 as the family devotional, and 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 if you want the apostolic explanation of what the empty tomb means.
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