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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The following are the readings for the Thirteenth
Sunday after Pentecost, August 22, (Proper 16) 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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>OLD TESTAMENT: Jeremiah 1: 4 - 10 (RCL)
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Jere 1:4 (NRSV) Now the word of the LORD came to me
saying, <BR>5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, <BR>and before you
were born I consecrated you; <BR>I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
<BR>6 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am
only a boy." 7 But the LORD said to me, <BR>"Do not say, "I am only a boy';
<BR>for you shall go to all to whom I send you, <BR>and you shall speak whatever
I command you, <BR>8 Do not be afraid of them, <BR>for I am with you to deliver
you, <BR>qsays the LORD." <BR>9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my
mouth; and the LORD said to me, <BR>"Now I have put my words in your mouth.
<BR>10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, <BR>to pluck up
and to pull down, <BR>to destroy and to overthrow, <BR>to build and to plant."
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV><BR>Jeremiah 28: 1 - 9 (Can. BAS)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jere 28:1 (NRSV) In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King
Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah
son of Azzur, from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence
of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years
I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, which King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 I
will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and
all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the LORD, for I will break
the yoke of the king of Babylon." <BR>5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the
prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were
standing in the house of the LORD; 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May
the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and
bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and
all the exiles. 7 But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and
in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from
ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and
great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that
prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the
prophet." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Isaiah 58: 9b - 14 (alt. for RCL) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Isai 58:9 (NRSV) If you remove the yoke from among you, <BR>the pointing of
the finger, the speaking of evil, <BR>10 if you offer your food to the hungry
<BR>and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, <BR>then your light shall rise in
the darkness <BR>and your gloom be like the noonday. <BR>11 The LORD will guide
you continually, <BR>and satisfy your needs in parched places, <BR>and make your
bones strong; <BR>and you shall be like a watered garden, <BR>like a spring of
water, <BR>whose waters never fail. <BR>12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
<BR>you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; <BR>you shall be
called the repairer of the breach, <BR>the restorer of streets to live in.
<BR>13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, <BR>from pursuing your own
interests on my holy day; <BR>if you call the sabbath a delight <BR>and the holy
day of the LORD honorable; <BR>if you honor it, not going your own ways,
<BR>serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; <BR>14 then you
shall take delight in the LORD, <BR>and I will make you ride upon the heights of
the earth; <BR>I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, <BR>for
the mouth of the LORD has spoken. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Isaiah 66: 18 - 21 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Isai 66:18 (NRSV) For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am
coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my
glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to
the nations, to Tar'shish, Put, and Lud--which draw the bow--to Tu'bal and
Ja'van, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my
glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 They shall bring
all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses, and
in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy
mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring a grain offering
in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. 21 And I will also take some of them
as priests and as Le'vites, says the LORD. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>PSALM 71: 1 - 6 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 71:1 (NRSV) In you, O LORD, I take refuge; <BR>let me never be put to
shame. <BR>2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; <BR>incline your
ear to me and save me. <BR>3 Be to me a rock of refuge, <BR>a strong fortress,
to save me, <BR>for you are my rock and my fortress. <BR>4 Rescue me, O my God,
from the hand of the wicked, <BR>from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. <BR>5
For you, O Lord, are my hope, <BR>my trust, O LORD, from my youth. <BR>6 Upon
you I have leaned from my birth; <BR>it was you who took me from my mother's
womb. <BR>My praise is continually of you. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Psalm 84 (Can. BAS)<BR> <BR>1 How dear to
me is your dwelling, O LORD of hosts! *<BR> My soul has a desire and
longing for the courts of<BR> the LORD;<BR> my heart and
my flesh rejoice in the living God.<BR> <BR>2 The sparrow has
found her a house<BR>and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young;
*<BR> by the side of your altars, O LORD of hosts,<BR> my
King and my God.<BR> <BR>3 Happy are they who dwell in your
house! *<BR> they will always be praising you.<BR> <BR>4
Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *<BR> whose
hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.<BR> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>5 Those who go through the desolate valley will
find<BR> it a place of springs, *<BR> for the early rains
have covered it with pools of water.<BR> <BR>6 They will climb
from height to height, *<BR> and the God of gods will reveal himself
in Zion.<BR> <BR>7 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
*<BR> hearken, O God of Jacob.<BR> <BR>8 Behold our
defender, O God; *<BR> and look upon the face of your
Anointed.<BR> <BR>9 For one day in your courts is better
than<BR> a thousand in my own room, *<BR> and to stand at
the threshold of the house of my God<BR> than to dwell in the tents
of the wicked.<BR> <BR>10 For the Lord God is both sun and
shield; *<BR> he will give grace and glory;<BR> <BR>11
No good thing will the Lord withhold *<BR> from those who walk
with integrity.<BR> <BR>12 O Lord of hosts,
*<BR> happy are they who put their trust in you!<BR> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psalm 103: 1 - 8 (alt. for RCL) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 103:1 (NRSV) Bless the LORD, O my soul, <BR>and all that is within me,
<BR>bless his holy name. <BR>2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, <BR>and do not forget
all his benefits-- <BR>3 who forgives all your iniquity, <BR>who heals all your
diseases, <BR>4 who redeems your life from the Pit, <BR>who crowns you with
steadfast love and mercy, <BR>5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live
<BR>so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. <BR>6 The LORD works
vindication <BR>and justice for all who are oppressed. <BR>7 He made known his
ways to Moses, <BR>his acts to the people of Israel. <BR>8 The LORD is merciful
and gracious, <BR>slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Psalm 117, Mark 16:15 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 117:1 (NRSV) Praise the LORD, all you nations! <BR>Extol him, all you
peoples! <BR>2 For great is his steadfast love toward us, <BR>and the
faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. <BR>Praise the LORD! <BR>Resp. Mark
16:15 Go to every part of the world, <BR>and proclaim the gospel to the whole
creation. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 12: 18 - 29 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hebr 12:18 (NRSV) You have not come to something that can be touched, a
blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19 and the sound of a
trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be
spoken to them. 20 (For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even
an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death." 21 Indeed, so
terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.") 22 But you
have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly
of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to
the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a
new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the
blood of Abel. <BR>25 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if
they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much
less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26 At that time
his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake
not only the earth but also the heaven." 27 This phrase, "Yet once more,"
indicates the removal of what is shaken--that is, created things--so that what
cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that
cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable
worship with reverence and awe; 29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Hebrews 12: 5 - 7, 11 - 13 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hebr 12:5 (NRSV) And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you
as children-- <BR>"My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
<BR>or lose heart when you are punished by him; <BR>6 for the Lord disciplines
those whom he loves, <BR>and chastises every child whom he accepts." <BR>7
Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for
what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? <BR>11 Now, discipline
always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the
peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. <BR>12
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make
straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint,
but rather be healed. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>GOSPEL: Luke 13: 10 - 17 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Luke 13:10 (NRSV) Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the
sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled
her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up
straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are
set free from your ailment." 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she
stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd,
"There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be
cured, and not on the sabbath day." 15 But the Lord answered him and said, "You
hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from
the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16 And ought not this woman, a
daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from
this bondage on the sabbath day?" 17 When he said this, all his opponents were
put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things
that he was doing. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Luke 13: 22 - 30 (Can. BAS, Roman Catholic) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Luke 13:22 (NRSV) Jesus went through one town and village after another,
teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, "Lord, will only
a few be saved?" He said to them, 24 "Strive to enter through the narrow door;
for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the
owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside
and to knock at the door, saying, "Lord, open to us,' then in reply he will say
to you, "I do not know where you come from.' 26 Then you will begin to say, "We
ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' 27 But he will say, "I
do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!' 28 There
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. 29
Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in
the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are
first who will be last." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Chad Wohlers<BR>Woodbury, Vermont 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>
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