[Propertalk] READINGS for the FIFTEENTH SUNDAY after PENTECOST

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 
September 13, (Proper 19, ECUSA; Proper 24, RCL & Roman Catholic) according 
to the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman Catholic, Church of 
England, and Canadian (BAS) Lectionaries. All readings are taken from the 
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible. Unless noted otherwise, 
the lectionaries of ECUSA, Canada and England are identical to the RCL this 
Sunday.



OLD TESTAMENT:  Proverbs 1: 20 - 33   (RCL)

Prov 1:20 (NRSV) Wisdom cries out in the street;
in the squares she raises her voice.
21 At the busiest corner she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused,
have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
25 and because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you,
27 when panic strikes you like a storm,
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30 would have none of my counsel,
and despised all my reproof,
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
and be sated with their own devices.
32 For waywardness kills the simple,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33 but those who listen to me will be secure
and will live at ease, without dread of disaster."


Isaiah 50: 4 - 9a   (Roman Catholic, alt. for RCL)

Isai 50:4 (NRSV) The Lord GOD has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens-- 
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
6 I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
7 The Lord GOD helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
8 he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
9 It is the Lord GOD who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.


Proverbs 22: 1 - 2, 8 - 9   (Can. BAS)

Prov 22:1 (NRSV) A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common:
the LORD is the maker of them all.

8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of anger will fail.
9 Those who are generous are blessed,
for they share their bread with the poor.


PSALM 19   (RCL)

Psal 19:1 (NRSV) The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.


Wisdom of Solomon 7: 26 - 8:1   (alt. for RCL)

7:26 (NRSV) For she [Wisdom] is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
27 Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
28 for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
29 She is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
30 for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
8:1 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she orders all things well.


Psalm 116: 1 - 9   (Roman Catholic, alt. for RCL)

Psal 116:1 (NRSV) I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of She'ol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:
"O LORD, I pray, save my life!"
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The LORD protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.

Note: Verse numbering in the ECUSA Psalter is different from the above.


125   Qui confidunt   (Can. BAS)

1   Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, *
  which cannot be moved, but stands fast for ever.

2   The hills stand about Jerusalem; *
  so does the Lord stand round about his people,
  from this time forth for evermore.

3   The scepter of the wicked shall not hold sway over the
  land allotted to the just, *
  so that the just shall not put their hands to evil.

4   Show your goodness, O LORD, to those who are good *
  and to those who are true of heart.

5   As for those who turn aside to crooked ways,
the Lord will lead them away with the evildoers; *
  but peace be upon Israel.


NEW TESTAMENT:   James 3: 1 - 12   (RCL)

Jame 3:1 (NRSV) Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and 
sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater 
strictness. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes 
in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide 
their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it 
takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder 
wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small 
member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a 
fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it 
stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set 
on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea 
creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one 
can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we 
bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the 
likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My 
brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth 
from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my 
brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt 
water yield fresh.


James 2: 1 - 5, 8 - 10, 14 - 17   (Can. BAS)
James 2: 14 - 18   (Roman Catholic)

Jame 2:1 (NRSV) My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism 
really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with 
gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor 
person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one 
wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the 
one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not 
made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the 
world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has 
promised to those who love him?

8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the 
scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 9 But if you show 
partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become 
accountable for all of it.

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but 
do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked 
and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep 
warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what 
is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your 
faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.


GOSPEL:   Mark 8: 27 - 38

Mark 8:27 (NRSV) Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of 
Caesare'a Philip'pi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people 
say that I am?" 28 And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, 
Eli'jah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29 He asked them, "But who 
do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." 30 And he 
sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great 
suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the 
scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this 
quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But 
turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind 
me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human 
things."
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to 
become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and 
follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those 
who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save 
it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit 
their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those 
who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful 
generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the 
glory of his Father with the holy angels."