[Propertalk] READINGS for the FORTEENTH SUNDAY after PENTECOST

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Fourrteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 
September 6, (Proper 18, ECUSA; Proper 23, RCL & Roman Catholic) according 
to the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman Catholic, Church of 
England, 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.

(These are being sent out a bit early as Lee & I leave shortly for Vermont, 
for a house inspection tomorrow).


OLD TESTAMENT: Proverbs 22: 1 - 2, 8 - 9, 22 - 23   (RCL)

Prov 22:1 (NRSV) A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common:
the LORD is the maker of them all.
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of anger will fail.
9 Those who are generous are blessed,
for they share their bread with the poor.
22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 for the LORD pleads their cause
and despoils of life those who despoil them.


Isaiah 35: 4 - 7a (Roman Catholic, alt. for RCL)

Isai 35:4 (NRSV) Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
""Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you."
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;


Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 5: 8 - 15   (Can. BAS)

Sir 5:8 (NRSV) Do not depend on dishonest wealth,
for it will not benefit you on the day of calamity.
9 Do not winnow in every wind,
or follow every path.
10 Stand firm for what you know,
and let your speech be consistent.
11 Be quick to hear,
but deliberate in answering.
12 If you know what to say, answer your neighbor;
but if not, put your hand over your mouth.
13 Honor and dishonor come from speaking,
and the tongue of mortals may be their downfall.
14 Do not be called double-tongued
and do not lay traps with your tongue;
for shame comes to the thief,
and severe condemnation to the double-tongued.
15 In great and small matters cause no harm,


Proverbs 2: 1 - 8   (alt. for Can. BAS)

Prov 2:1 (NRSV) My child, if you accept my words
and treasure up my commandments within you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 if you indeed cry out for insight,
and raise your voice for understanding;
4 if you seek it like silver,
and search for it as for hidden treasures-
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and preserving the way of his faithful ones.


PSALM 125 (RCL)

Psal 125:1 (NRSV) Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people,
from this time on and forevermore.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
4 Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
5 But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
the LORD will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!


Psalm 146: 7 - 10   (Roman Catholic)
Psalm 146   (alt. for RCL)

Psal 146:1 (NRSv) Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free; 8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!


Psalm 119: 139 - 136   (Can. BAS)

129   Your decrees are wonderful; *
  therefore I obey them with all my heart.

130   When your word goes forth it gives light; *
  it gives understanding to the simple.

131   I open my mouth and pant; *
  I long for your commandments.

132   Turn to me in mercy, *
  as you always do to those who love your Name.

133   Steady my footsteps in your word; *
  let no iniquity have dominion over me.

134   Rescue me from those who oppress me, *
  and I will keep your commandments.

135   Let your countenance shine upon your servant *
  and teach me your statutes.

136   My eyes shed streams of tears, *
  because people do not keep your law.


NEW TESTAMENT: James 2: 1 - 10 (11 - 13) 14 - 17 (RCL)
                                    James 2: 1 - 5 (Roman Catholic)

Jame 2:1 (NRSV) My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism 
really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with 
gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor 
person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one 
wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the 
one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not 
made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the 
world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has 
promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it 
not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is 
it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the 
scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 9 But if you show 
partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become 
accountable for all of it. 11 For the one who said, "You shall not commit 
adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit 
adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So 
speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For 
judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy 
triumphs over judgment.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but 
do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked 
and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep 
warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what 
is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.


James 1: 17 - 27 (Can. BAS)

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.
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.
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.
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.


GOSPEL: Mark 7: 24 - 37 (RCL)
                  Mark 7: 31 - 37 (Can. BAS, Roman Catholic)

Mark 7:24 (NRSV) From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. 
He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he 
could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean 
spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 
26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to 
cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, "Let the children be 
fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to 
the dogs." 28 But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat 
the children's crumbs." 29 Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may 
go-the demon has left your daughter." 30 So she went home, found the child 
lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon 
towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought 
to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him 
to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the 
crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his 
tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, 
"Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35 And immediately his ears were opened, 
his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to 
tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they 
proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done 
everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."


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