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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The following are the readings for the Thirteenth
Sunday after Pentecost, August 30, (Proper 17, ECUSA; Proper 22, RCL & Roman
Catholic) according to the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman
Catholic, Church of England (Common Worship), 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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>OLD TESTAMENT: Song of Solomon 2: 8 -
13 (RCL)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Song 2:8 (NRSV) The voice of my beloved! <BR>Look,
he comes, <BR>leaping upon the mountains, <BR>bounding over the hills. <BR>9 My
beloved is like a gazelle <BR>or a young stag. <BR>Look, there he stands
<BR>behind our wall, <BR>gazing in at the windows, <BR>looking through the
lattice. <BR>10 My beloved speaks and says to me: <BR>"Arise, my love, my fair
one, <BR>and come away; <BR>11 for now the winter is past, <BR>the rain is over
and gone. <BR>12 The flowers appear on the earth; <BR>the time of singing has
come, <BR>and the voice of the turtledove <BR>is heard in our land. <BR>13 The
fig tree puts forth its figs, <BR>and the vines are in blossom; <BR>they give
forth fragrance. <BR>Arise, my love, my fair one, <BR>and come away.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV><BR>Deuteronomy 4: 1 - 2, 6 - 8 (Roman Catholic)<BR>Deuteronomy
4: 1 - 2, 6 - 9 (alt. for RCL)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Deut 4:1 (NRSV) So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances
that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the
land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must neither
add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the
commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>6 You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and
discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say,
"Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!" 7 For what other
great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to
him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this
entire law that I am setting before you today? <BR>9 But take care and watch
yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen
nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known
to your children and your children's children-- </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>1 Kings 2: 1 - 4, 10 - 12 (Can. BAS)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1Kin 2:1 (NRSWV) {David's Instruction to Solomon} When David's time to die
drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: 2 "I am about to go the way of
all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, 3 and keep the charge of the LORD your
God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his
ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that
you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. 4 Then the LORD will
establish his word that he spoke concerning me: "If your heirs take heed to
their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all
their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.'
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>10 {Death of David} Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in
the city of David. 11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years;
he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 So
Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly
established. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>PSALM 45 (RCL)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 45:1 (NRSV) My heart overflows with a goodly theme; <BR>I address my
verses to the king; <BR>my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. <BR>2 You
are the most handsome of men; <BR>grace is poured upon your lips; <BR>therefore
God has blessed you forever. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>6 Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. <BR>Your royal scepter is a
scepter of equity; <BR>7 you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
<BR>Therefore God, your God, has anointed you <BR>with the oil of gladness
beyond your companions; <BR>8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes
and cassia. <BR>From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; <BR>9
daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; <BR>at your right hand stands
the queen in gold of O'phir. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Note: Verse numbering in your psalter may differ from the above</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>45 Eructavit cor meum (ECUSA
BCP)<BR> <BR>1 My heart is stirring with a noble song;<BR>let
me recite what I have fashioned for the king; *<BR> my tongue shall
be the pen of a skilled writer.<BR> <BR>2 You are the fairest
of men; *<BR> grace flows from your lips,<BR> because God
has blessed you for ever.<BR> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>7 Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever,
*<BR> a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your
kingdom;<BR> you love righteousness and hate
iniquity.<BR> <BR>8 Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
*<BR> with the oil of gladness above your
fellows.<BR> <BR>9 All your garments are fragrant with myrrh,
aloes, and cassia, *<BR> and the music of strings from ivory palaces
makes you glad.<BR> <BR>10 Kings’ daughters stand among the
ladies of the court; *<BR> on your right hand is the
queen,<BR> adorned with the gold of Ophir.<BR> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Psalm 15 (alt. for RCL)<BR>Psalm 15: 2 - 5
(Roman Catholic)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 15:1 (NRSV) O LORD, who may abide in your tent? <BR>Who may dwell on
your holy hill? <BR>2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, <BR>and
speak the truth from their heart; <BR>3 who do not slander with their tongue,
<BR>and do no evil to their friends, <BR>nor take up a reproach against their
neighbors; <BR>4 in whose eyes the wicked are despised, <BR>but who honor those
who fear the LORD; <BR>who stand by their oath even to their hurt; <BR>5 who do
not lend money at interest, <BR>and do not take a bribe against the innocent.
<BR>Those who do these things shall never be moved. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>15 Domine, quis habitabit? (ECUSA
BCP)<BR> <BR>1 Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle?
*<BR> who may abide upon your holy hill?<BR> <BR>2 Whoever
leads a blameless life and does what is right, *<BR> who speaks the truth
from his heart.<BR> <BR>3 There is no guile upon his
tongue;<BR>he does no evil to his friend; *<BR> he does not heap contempt
upon his neighbor.<BR> <BR>4 In his sight the wicked is
rejected, *<BR> but he honors those who fear the Lord.<BR> <BR>5
He has sworn to do no wrong *<BR> and does not take back his
word.<BR> <BR>6 He does not give his money in hope of gain,
*<BR> nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.<BR> <BR>7
Whoever does these things *<BR> shall never be
overthrown.<BR> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>121 Levavi oculos (Can. BAS)<BR> <BR>1
I lift up my eyes to the hills; *<BR> from where is my help to
come?<BR> <BR>2 My help comes from the Lord,
*<BR> the maker of heaven and earth.<BR> <BR>3 He
will not let your foot be moved *<BR> and he who watches over you
will not fall asleep.<BR> <BR>4 Behold, he who keeps watch over
Israel *<BR> shall neither slumber nor sleep;<BR> <BR>5
The Lord himself watches over you; *<BR> the Lord is your shade
at your right hand,<BR> <BR>6 So that the sun shall not strike
you by day, *<BR> nor the moon by night.<BR> <BR>7
The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; *<BR> it is he who
shall keep you safe.<BR> <BR>8 The Lord shall watch over your
going out and<BR> your coming in, *<BR> from this time
forth for evermore.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>NEW TESTAMENT: James 1: 17 - 27
(RCL)<BR>
James 1: 17 - 18, 21b - 22, 27 (Roman Catholic)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jame 1:17 (NRSV) Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is
from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no
variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave
us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of
his creatures. <BR>19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be
quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not
produce God's righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and
rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has
the power to save your souls. <BR>22 But be doers of the word, and not merely
hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not
doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look
at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But
those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being
not hearers who forget but doers who act--they will be blessed in their doing.
<BR>26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but
deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and
undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in
their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>GOSPEL: Mark 7: 1 - 8, 14 - 15, 21 - 23
(all)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mark 7:1 (NRSV) Now when the Phar'isees and some of the scribes who had
come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his
disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For
the Phar'isees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their
hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat
anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other
traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles. 5
So the Phar'isees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live
according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" 6 He said
to them, "Isai'ah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
<BR>"This people honors me with their lips, <BR>but their hearts are far from
me; <BR>7 in vain do they worship me, <BR>teaching human precepts as doctrines.'
<BR>8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of
you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can
defile, but the things that come out are what defile." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>20 And he said, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21 For it
is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication,
theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they
defile a person." <BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Chad Wohlers</DIV>
<DIV>right now in Hardwick, VT, but usually in<BR>East Bridgewater,
Mass. USA<BR><A
href="mailto:chadwohl@satucket.com">chadwohl@satucket.com</A><BR><A
href="mailto:cwohlers@bridgew.edu">cwohlers@bridgew.edu</A><BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>