[Propertalk] READINGS for the SECOND SUNJDAY in LENT

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Second Sunday in Lent, March 8, 
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.



OLD TESTAMENT:  Genesis 17: 1 - 7, 15 - 16   (RCL)
                                    Genesis 17: 1 - 7, 15 - 19   (Can. BAS)

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. 8 
And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you 
are now an alien, all the land of Ca'naan, for a perpetual holding; and I 
will be their God."
9 God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your 
offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, 
which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every 
male among you shall be circumcised.

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." 17 Then Abraham fell on his 
face and laughed, and said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is 
a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" 18 
And Abraham said to God, "O that Ish'mael might live in your sight!" 19 God 
said, "No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him 
Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for 
his offspring after him.


Genesis 22: 1 - 2, 9a, 10 - 13, 15 - 18  (Roman Catholic)

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."
9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar 
there and laid the wood in order.
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.
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."


PSALM 22: 23 - 31   (RCL)

Psal 22:23 (NRSV) You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
but heard when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD.
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

Note: Your Psalter versification may differ from the above.


Psalm 105   (Can. BAS)

Part I   Confitemini Domino

1   Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name; *
  make known his deeds among the peoples.

2   Sing to him, sing praises to him, *
  and speak of all his marvelous works.

3   Glory in his holy Name; *
  let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

4   Search for the LORD and his strength; *
  continually seek his face.

5   Remember the marvels he has done, *
  his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,

6   O offspring of Abraham his servant, *
  O children of Jacob his chosen.

7   He is the Lord our God; *
  his judgments prevail in all the world.

8   He has always been mindful of his covenant, *
  the promise he made for a thousand generations:

9   The covenant he made with Abraham, *
  the oath that he swore to Isaac,

10   Which he established as a statute for Jacob, *
  an everlasting covenant for Israel,

11   Saying, “To you will I give the land of Canaan *
  to be your allotted inheritance.”



Psalm 116: 10, 15 - 19   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 116:10 (NRSV)  I kept my faith, even when I said,
"I am greatly afflicted";

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!


NEW TESTAMENT:   Romans 4: 13 - 25   (RCL)
                                      Romans 4: 16 - 25   (Can. BAS)

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.
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.



Romans 8: 31b - 34   (Roman Catholic)

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.


GOSPEL:   Mark 8: 31 - 38   (all but Roman Catholic)

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."
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."


Mark 9: 2 - 9   (Alt. for RCL - but not C of E or ECUSA)
Mark 9: 2 - 10   (Roman Catholic)

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.
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.

Note: This reading is NOT an alternate for Chuch of England or ECUSA