Scripture Readings

The Season After Pentecost
Proper 17 (22) in Year A
For the Sunday during 28 August through 3 September

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)

     Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
     When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
     And Moses said, “Here I am.”
     “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
     The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
     But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
     And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
     Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
     God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
     God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
—Exodus 3:1-15, 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.
Then Israel entered Egypt;
     Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
The LORD made his people very fruitful;
     he made them too numerous for their foes,
whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
     to conspire against his servants.
He sent Moses his servant,
     and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
Praise the LORD.
—Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c, NIV

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Old Testament (Alternate Two)

You understand, O LORD;
     remember me and care for me.
     Avenge me on my persecutors.
You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
     think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.
When your words came, I ate them;
     they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
     O LORD God Almighty.
I never sat in the company of revelers,
     never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
     and you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain unending
     and my wound grievous and incurable?
Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
     like a spring that fails?
     Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
     that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
     you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
     but you must not turn to them.
I will make you a wall to this people,
     a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
     but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
     to rescue and save you,”
     declares the LORD.
”I will save you from the hands of the wicked
     and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel.”
—Jeremiah 15:15-21, NIV

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Psalm (Alternate Two)

Vindicate me, O LORD,
     for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the LORD
     without wavering.
Test me, O LORD, and try me,
     examine my heart and my mind;
for your love is ever before me,
     and I walk continually in your truth.
I do not sit with deceitful men,
     nor do I consort with hypocrites;
I abhor the assembly of evildoers
     and refuse to sit with the wicked.
I wash my hands in innocence,
     and go about your altar, O LORD,
proclaiming aloud your praise
     and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
I love the house where you live, O LORD,
     the place where your glory dwells.
—Psalm 26:1-8, NIV

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Epistle

     Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
     Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
     Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
     if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
—Romans 12:9-21, NIV

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Gospel

     From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
     Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
     Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
     Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
—Matthew 16:21-28, NIV

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