Scripture Readings

The Season After Pentecost
Proper 12 (17) in Year A
For the Sunday during 24 through 30 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)

     Laban said to [Jacob], “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”
     Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”
     Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
     Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her.”
     So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.
     When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”
     Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.”
     And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.
—Genesis 29:15-28, NIV

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Psalm (Alternate One)

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
     make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
     tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
     let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
     seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
     his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
O descendants of Abraham his servant,
     O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the LORD our God;
     his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever,
     the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
     the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
     to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
“To you I will give the land of Canaan
     as the portion you will inherit.”
Praise the LORD!
—Psalm 105:1-11, 45b, NIV

—OR—

Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
     who walk in his ways.
You will eat the fruit of your labor;
     blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
     within your house;
your sons will be like olive shoots
     around your table.
Thus is the man blessed
     who fears the LORD.
May the LORD bless you from Zion
     all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,
     and may you live to see your children’s children.
     Peace be upon Israel.
—Psalm 128, NIV

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Old Testament (Alternate Two)

     At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
     Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
     “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
     The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
—1 Kings 3:5-12, NIV

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Psalm (Alternate Two)

Your statutes are wonderful;
     therefore I obey them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
     it gives understanding to the simple.
I open my mouth and pant,
     longing for your commands.
Turn to me and have mercy on me,
     as you always do to those who love your name.
Direct my footsteps according to your word;
     let no sin rule over me.
Redeem me from the oppression of men,
     that I may obey your precepts.
Make your face shine upon your servant
     and teach me your decrees.
Streams of tears flow from my eyes,
     for your law is not obeyed.
—Psalm 119:129-136, NIV

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Epistle

     In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
     And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
     What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
      “For your sake we face death all day long;
          we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
—Romans 8:26-39, NIV

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Gospel

     He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”
     He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
     “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
     “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
     “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
     “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.
     “Yes,” they replied.
     He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
—Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, NIV

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