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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The following are the readings for the Tenth Sunday
after Pentecost (Proper 16), August 21, 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.
Throughout Pentecost the alternate RCL Psalm would normally be used with the
alternate RCL O. T. reading. Note also that the Canadian RCL does not have the
alternative readings.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>OLD TRESTAMENT: Exodus 1: 8 - 2: 10 (RCL)
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Exod 1:8 (NRSV) Now a new king arose over Egypt,
who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people
are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with
them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight
against us and escape from the land." 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over
them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pi'thom and
Ram'eses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they
multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13
The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14 and made
their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of
field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
<BR>15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named
Shiph'rah and the other Pu'ah, 16 "When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women,
and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl,
she shall live." 17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of
Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt
summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and allowed the
boys to live?" 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are
not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the
midwife comes to them." 20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people
multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he
gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every boy that is
born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl
live." 2:1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Le'vite woman. 2
The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby,
she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus
basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it
and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4 His sister stood at a
distance, to see what would happen to him. <BR>5 The daughter of Pharaoh came
down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She
saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened
it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, "This must be
one of the Hebrews' children," she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's
daughter, "Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the
child for you?" 8 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Yes." So the girl went and
called the child's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child
and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the
child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's
daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, "because," she said,
"I drew him out of the water." </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV><BR>Isaiah 51: 1 - 6 (alt. for RCL) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Isai 51:1 (NRSV) Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, <BR>you that
seek the LORD. <BR>Look to the rock from which you were hewn, <BR>and to the
quarry from which you were dug. <BR>2 Look to Abraham your father <BR>and to
Sarah who bore you; <BR>for he was but one when I called him, <BR>but I blessed
him and made him many. <BR>3 For the LORD will comfort Zion; <BR>he will comfort
all her waste places, <BR>and will make her wilderness like Eden, <BR>her desert
like the garden of the LORD; <BR>joy and gladness will be found in her,
<BR>thanksgiving and the voice of song. <BR>4 Listen to me, my people, <BR>and
give heed to me, my nation; <BR>for a teaching will go out from me, <BR>and my
justice for a light to the peoples. <BR>5 I will bring near my deliverance
swiftly, <BR>my salvation has gone out <BR>and my arms will rule the peoples;
<BR>the coastlands wait for me, <BR>and for my arm they hope. <BR>6 Lift up your
eyes to the heavens, <BR>and look at the earth beneath; <BR>for the heavens will
vanish like smoke, <BR>the earth will wear out like a garment, <BR>and those who
live on it will die like gnats; <BR>but my salvation will be forever, <BR>and my
deliverance will never be ended. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Isaiah 22: 15, 19 - 23 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Isai 22:15 (NRSV) Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: Come, go to this
steward, to Sheb'na, who is master of the household, and say to him: 19 I will
thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your post. <BR>20
On that day I will call my servant Eli'akim son of Hilki'ah, 21 and will clothe
him with your robe and bind your sash on him. I will commit your authority to
his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the
house of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David;
he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open. 23 I
will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of
honor to his ancestral house. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>PSALM 124 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 124:1 (NRSV) If it had not been the LORD who was on our side <BR>--let
Israel now say-- <BR>2 if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, <BR>when
our enemies attacked us, <BR>3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
<BR>when their anger was kindled against us; <BR>4 then the flood would have
swept us away, <BR>the torrent would have gone over us; <BR>5 then over us would
have gone <BR>the raging waters. <BR>6 Blessed be the LORD, <BR>who has not
given us <BR>as prey to their teeth. <BR>7 We have escaped like a bird <BR>from
the snare of the fowlers; <BR>the snare is broken, <BR>and we have escaped.
<BR>8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, <BR>who made heaven and earth. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Psalm 138 (alt. for RCL) <BR>Psalm 138: 1 - 3, 6, 8 (Roman Catholic)
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 138:1 (NRSV) I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
<BR>before the gods I sing your praise; <BR>2 I bow down toward your holy temple
<BR>and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
<BR>for you have exalted your name and your word <BR>above everything. <BR>3 On
the day I called, you answered me, <BR>you increased my strength of soul. <BR>4
All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, <BR>for they have heard the
words of your mouth. <BR>5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, <BR>for
great is the glory of the LORD. <BR>6 For though the LORD is high, he regards
the lowly; <BR>but the haughty he perceives from far away. <BR>7 Though I walk
in the midst of trouble, <BR>you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
<BR>you stretch out your hand, <BR>and your right hand delivers me. <BR>8 The
LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; <BR>your steadfast love, O LORD, endures
forever. <BR>Do not forsake the work of your hands. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>NEW TESTAMENT: Romans 12: 1 - 8 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Roma 12:1 (NRSV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may
discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. <BR>3
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of
yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one
body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so
we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of
another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us:
prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in
teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader,
in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Romans 11: 33 - 36 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Roma 11:33 (NRSV) O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of
God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! <BR>34
"For who has known the mind of the Lord? <BR>Or who has been his counselor?"
<BR>35 "Or who has given a gift to him, <BR>to receive a gift in return?" <BR>36
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory
forever. Amen. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>GOSPEL: Matthew 16: 13 - 20 (all) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Matt 16:13 (NRSV) Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a
Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Eli'jah, and still
others Jeremi'ah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you
say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the
living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he sternly
ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. </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></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>