[Propertalk] READINGS for the THIRD SUNDAY in LENT

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Third Sunday of Lent, March 7, 
according to the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman Catholic, 
Canadian BAS, and the Church of England (Common Worship) lectionaries. All 
readings are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the 
Bible. Unless noted otherwise, the ECUSA, Canadian and C of E lectionaries 
are identical to the RCL for this day.

The readings are posted on our web site: <http://satucket.com/lectionary>, 
in RTF format, which can be read by all word processors.



OLD TESTAMENT:  Isaiah 55: 1 - 9   (RCL)

Isai 55:1 (NRSV) Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.


Exodus 3: 1 - 15   (ECUSA, Can. BAS)
Exodus 3: 1 - 8a, 13 - 15   (Roman Catholic)

Exod 3:1 (NRSV) Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jeth'ro, 
the priest of Mid'ian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to 
Ho'reb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him 
in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet 
it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this 
great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." 4 When the LORD saw 
that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, 
Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove 
the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy 
ground." 6 He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of 
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, 
for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in 
Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I 
know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the 
Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a 
land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Ca'naanites, the 
Hit'tites, the Am'orites, the Per'izzites, the Hi'vites, and the Jeb'usites. 
9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the 
Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my 
people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I 
that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" 12 He 
said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I 
who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall 
worship God on this mountain."
13 But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, "The 
God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, "What is his 
name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."
 He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, "I AM has sent me 
to you.'" 15 God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 
"The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 
and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you':
This is my name forever,
and this my title for all generations.


PSALM 63: 1 - 8   (RCL)

Psal 63:1 (NRSV) O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

Note: Verse numbering in your Psalter may differ from the above.


Psalm 103: 1 - 4, 6 - 8, 11   (Roman Catholic)
Psalm 103: 1 - 13   (Can. BAS)

Psal 103:1 (NRSV) Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits-- 
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
obedient to his spoken word.
21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
his ministers that do his will.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul.


NEW TESTAMENT:  1 Corinthians 10: 1 - 13   (all but Roman Catholic)
                                     1 Corinthians 10: 1 - 6, 10 - 12 
(Roman Catholic)

1Cor 10:1 (NRSV) I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that 
our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 
and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate 
the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they 
drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5 
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck 
down in the wilderness.
6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire 
evil as they did. 7 Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is 
written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play." 8 
We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and 
twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the 
test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. 10 And do not 
complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 These 
things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down 
to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So if you think 
you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. 13 No testing has 
overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will 
not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will 
also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.


GOSPEL:   Luke 13: 1 - 9   (all)

Luke 13:1 (NRSV) At that very time there were some present who told him 
about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 
He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this 
way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but 
unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who 
were killed when the tower of Silo'am fell on them--do you think that they 
were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell 
you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."
6 Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; 
and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the 
gardener, "See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this 
fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the 
soil?' 8 He replied, "Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig 
around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and 
good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"



Chad Wohlers
East Bridgewater, Mass.   USA
chadwohl at satucket.com
cwohlers at bridgew.edu