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<DIV>The following are the readings for the Second Sunday in Lent, March 1,
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 otherwise noted, the ECUSA, Canadian and Common Worship readings are
identical to the RCL this Sunday.</DIV>
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<DIV>OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis 17: 1 - 7, 15 - 16 (RCL)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Gene 17:1 (NRSV) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to
Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2
And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly
numerous." 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 "As for me,
this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of
nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham;
for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you
exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from
you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after
you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you
and to your offspring after you. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>15 God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her
Sar'ai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will
give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations;
kings of peoples shall come from her." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Genesis 22: 1 - 2, 9a, 10 - 13, 15 - 18 (Roman Catholic)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Gene 22:1 (NRSV) After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him,
"Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 He said, "Take your son, your only son
Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori'ah, and offer him there as a
burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you."</DIV>
<DIV>9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an
altar there and laid the wood in order. </DIV>
<DIV>10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11
But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham,
Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy
or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not
withheld your son, your only son, from me." 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a
ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered
it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. </DIV>
<DIV>15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16
and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the LORD: Because you have done this,
and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you, and I
will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that
is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,
18 and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for
themselves, because you have obeyed my voice." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>PSALM 22: 23 - 31 (RCL)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psal 22:23 (NRSV) You who fear the LORD, praise him! </DIV>
<DIV>All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; </DIV>
<DIV>stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! </DIV>
<DIV>24 For he did not despise or abhor </DIV>
<DIV>the affliction of the afflicted; </DIV>
<DIV>he did not hide his face from me, </DIV>
<DIV>but heard when I cried to him. </DIV>
<DIV>25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; </DIV>
<DIV>my vows I will pay before those who fear him. </DIV>
<DIV>26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; </DIV>
<DIV>those who seek him shall praise the LORD. </DIV>
<DIV>May your hearts live forever! </DIV>
<DIV>27 All the ends of the earth shall remember </DIV>
<DIV>and turn to the LORD; </DIV>
<DIV>and all the families of the nations </DIV>
<DIV>shall worship before him. </DIV>
<DIV>28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, </DIV>
<DIV>and he rules over the nations. </DIV>
<DIV>29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; </DIV>
<DIV>before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, </DIV>
<DIV>and I shall live for him. </DIV>
<DIV>30 Posterity will serve him; </DIV>
<DIV>future generations will be told about the Lord, </DIV>
<DIV>31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, </DIV>
<DIV>saying that he has done it. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Note: Your Psalter versification may differ from the above.</DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Psalm 116: 10, 15 - 19 (Roman Catholic)</DIV>
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<DIV>Psal 116:10 (NRSV) I kept my faith, even when I said, </DIV>
<DIV>"I am greatly afflicted"; </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>15 Precious in the sight of the LORD </DIV>
<DIV>is the death of his faithful ones. </DIV>
<DIV>16 O LORD, I am your servant; </DIV>
<DIV>I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. </DIV>
<DIV>You have loosed my bonds. </DIV>
<DIV>17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice </DIV>
<DIV>and call on the name of the LORD. </DIV>
<DIV>18 I will pay my vows to the LORD </DIV>
<DIV>in the presence of all his people, </DIV>
<DIV>19 in the courts of the house of the LORD, </DIV>
<DIV>in your midst, O Jerusalem. </DIV>
<DIV>Praise the LORD! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>NEW TESTAMENT: Romans 4: 13 - 25 (RCL)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Roma 4:13 (NRSV) For the promise that he would inherit the world did not
come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the
righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the
heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but
where there is no law, neither is there violation. </DIV>
<DIV>16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest
on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of
the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father
of all of us, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many
nations")--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the
dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Hoping against
hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," according
to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be." 19 He did not weaken
in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for
he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of
Sarah's womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but
he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced
that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore his faith "was
reckoned to him as righteousness." 23 Now the words, "it was reckoned to him,"
were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned
to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was
handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
</DIV>
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<DIV>Romans 8: 31b - 34 (Roman Catholic)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Roma 8:31 (NRSV) ... If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not
withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also
give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is
God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who
was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>GOSPEL: Mark 8: 31 - 38 (all but Roman
Catholic)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mark 8:31 (NRSV) 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." </DIV>
<DIV>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." </DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mark 9: 2 - 9 (Alt. for RCL - but not C of E or ECUSA)</DIV>
<DIV>Mark 9: 2 - 10 (Roman Catholic)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mark 9:2 (NRSV) Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and
John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was
transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no
one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Eli'jah with Moses,
who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for
us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one
for Eli'jah." 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a
cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son,
the Beloved; listen to him!" 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one
with them any more, but only Jesus. </DIV>
<DIV>9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one
about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising
from the dead could mean. </DIV>
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<DIV>Note: This reading is NOT an alternate for Church of England or ECUSA</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Chad
Wohlers<BR>East Bridgewater, MA
USA<BR>chadwohl@satucket.com</DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>