Scripture Readings
The Season After Pentecost
Proper 10 (15) in Year A
For the Sunday during 10 through 16 July
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.
Alternate One:
Old Testament
Psalm
Alternate Two:
Old Testament
Psalm
Epistle Reading
Gospel Reading
Old Testament (Alternate One)
This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was
forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from
Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife,
because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became
pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this
happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
The LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
When the time came for her to give birth, there
were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body
was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came
out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty
years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter,
a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents.
Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came
in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some
of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good
is the birthright to me?”
But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore
an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil
stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
—Genesis 25:19-34, NIV
Go
to the top of this pagePsalm (Alternate One)
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
that I will follow your righteous laws.
I have suffered much;
preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word.
Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth,
and teach me your laws.
Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
I will not forget your law.
The wicked have set a snare for me,
but I have not strayed from your precepts.
Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.
My heart is set on keeping your decrees
to the very end.
—Psalm 119:105-112, NIV
Old Testament (Alternate Two)
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread
for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed.”
—Isaiah 55:10-13, NIV
Psalm (Alternate Two)
[Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion;
to you our vows will be fulfilled.
O you who hear prayer,
to you all men will come.
When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions.
Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
Those living far away fear your wonders;
where morning dawns and evening fades
you call forth songs of joy.]
You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its crops.
You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the desert overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.
—Psalm 65:(1-8), 9-13, NIV
Epistle
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the
Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law
was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And
so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements
of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful
nature but according to the Spirit.
Those who live according to the sinful nature have
their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance
with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of
sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it
do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful
nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is
in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of
righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living
in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
—Romans 8:1-11, NIV
Gospel
That same day Jesus went out of the house
and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into
a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told
them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As
he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and
ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang
up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants
were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell
among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on
good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was
sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the
evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed
sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places
is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he
has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because
of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among
the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received
the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands
it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
—Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, NIV
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