Scripture Readings
The Season After Pentecost
Proper 14 (19) in Year C
For the Sunday during 7 through 13 August
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)
The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son
of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah,
kings of Judah.
Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the law of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
“The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the
LORD.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened
animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs
and goats.
When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;
wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,
learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the
land;
but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
—Isaiah 1:1, 10-20, NIV
Go
to the top of this pagePsalm (Alternate One)
The Mighty One, God, the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to the
place where it sets.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
Our God comes and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.
He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge
his people:
“Gather to me my consecrated ones,
who made a covenant with me by
sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. Selah
“Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against
you:
I am God, your God.
I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or your burnt offerings, which
are ever before me.
“Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with
none to rescue:
He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way
so that I may show him the salvation
of God.”
—Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23, NIV
Old Testament (Alternate Two)
After this, the word of the
LORD came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD,
what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who
will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said,
“You have given me no children; so a servant in my household
will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came
to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from
your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said,
“Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can
count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Abram believed the LORD, and he
credited it to him as righteousness.
—Genesis 15:1-6, NIV
Psalm (Alternate Two)
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great
strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength
it cannot save.
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing
love,
to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
—Psalm 33:12-22, NIV
Epistle
Now faith is being sure of
what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is
what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the
universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was
not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel offered God a better
sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous
man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still
speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this
life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found,
because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was
commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible
to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that
he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about
things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.
By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness
that comes by faith.
By faith Abraham, when called to
go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed
and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By
faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in
a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob,
who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking
forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder
is God.
By faith Abraham, even though he
was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become
a father because he considered him faithful who had made the
promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless
as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living
by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;
they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they
admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People
who say such things show that they are looking for a country
of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had
left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they
were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a
city for them.
—Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, NIV
Gospel
“Do not be afraid, little
flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses
for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven
that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no
moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
“Be dressed ready for service and
keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to
return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks
they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for
those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.
I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have
them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It
will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready,
even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But
understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what
hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be
broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will
come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
—Luke 12:32-40, NIV
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