Scripture Readings

The First Sunday in Lent
In Year C

Scripture readings are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV® ©1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. All rights reserved.

Old Testament
Psalm
Epistle Reading
Gospel Reading

Old Testament

When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us.” The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me.” Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
—Deuteronomy 26:1-11, NIV

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Psalm

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
     will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
     my God, in whom I trust.”
If you make the Most High your dwelling—
     even the LORD, who is my refuge—
then no harm will befall you,
     no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
     to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
     so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
     you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
     I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
     I will be with him in trouble,
     I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
     and show him my salvation.”
—Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, NIV

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Epistle

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[
—Romans 10:8b-13, NIV

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Gospel

     Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
     The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
     Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’”
     The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
     Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
     The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
     to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
     so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
     Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
     When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
—Luke 4:1-13, NIV

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