[Propertalk] READINGS for the SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY after PENTECOST

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, 
Sept. 27 (Proper 21, ECUSA; Proper 26, 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.



OLD TESTAMENT:   Esther 7: 1 - 6, 9 -10, 9: 20 - 22   (RCL)

Esth 7:1 (NRSV) So the king and Ha'man went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 
On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to 
Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And 
what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be 
fulfilled." 3 Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have won your favor, O king, 
and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me--that is my 
petition--and the lives of my people--that is my request. 4 For we have been 
sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. 
If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my 
peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king." 5 Then King 
Ahasue'rus said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, who has 
presumed to do this?" 6 Esther said, "A foe and enemy, this wicked Ha'man!" 
Then Ha'man was terrified before the king and the queen.

9 Then Harbo'na, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, "Look, 
the very gallows that Ha'man has prepared for Mor'decai, whose word saved 
the king, stands at Ha'man's house, fifty cubits high." And the king said, 
"Hang him on that." 10 So they hanged Ha'man on the gallows that he had 
prepared for Mor'decai. Then the anger of the king abated.

9:20 Mor'decai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who 
were in all the provinces of King Ahasue'rus, both near and far, 21 
enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month A'dar 
and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, 22 as the days 
on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that 
had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a 
holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for 
sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.


Numbers 11: 4 - 6, 10 - 16, 24 - 29   (alt. for RCL)
Numbers 11: 25 - 29   (Roman Catholic)

Numb 11:4 (NRSV) The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the 
Israelites also wept again, and said, "If only we had meat to eat! 5 We 
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the 
melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our strength is 
dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."

10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the 
entrances of their tents. Then the LORD became very angry, and Moses was 
displeased. 11 So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have you treated your servant 
so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden 
of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give 
birth to them, that you should say to me, "Carry them in your bosom, as a 
nurse carries a sucking child,' to the land that you promised on oath to 
their ancestors? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For 
they come weeping to me and say, "Give us meat to eat!' 14 I am not able to 
carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. 15 If this is 
the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once--if I have found 
favor in your sight--and do not let me see my misery."
16 So the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy of the elders of 
Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; 
bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with 
you. 17 I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of 
the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden 
of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he 
gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. 
25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of 
the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the 
spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
26 Two men remained in the camp, one named El'dad, and the other named 
Me'dad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but 
they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 
And a young man ran and told Moses, "El'dad and Me'dad are prophesying in 
the camp." 28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his 
chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!" 29 But Moses said to him, "Are 
you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, and 
that the LORD would put his spirit on them!"


Job 42: 1 - 6   (Can. BAS)

Job  42:1 (NRSV) {Job Is Humbled and Satisfied} Then Job answered the LORD:
2 "I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 "Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 "Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.'
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."


PSALM 124   (RCL)

Psal 124:1 (NRSV) If it had not been the LORD who was on our side
--let Israel now say-- 
2 if it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.


Psalm 19: 8, 10, 12 - 14   (Roman Catholic)
Psalm 19: 7 - 14   (alt. for RCL)

Psal 19 (NRSV) 7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.


Psalm 27: 10 - 18   (Can. BAS)

10   Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call; *
  have mercy on me and answer me.

11   You speak in my heart and say, "Seek my face." *
  Your face, Lord, will I seek.

12   Hide not your face from me, *
  nor turn away your servant in displeasure.

13   You have been my helper;
cast me not away; *
  do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.

14   Though my father and my mother forsake me, *
  the Lord will sustain me.

15   Show me your way, O Lord; *
  lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.

16   Deliver me not into the hand of my adversaries, *
  for false witnesses have risen up against me,
  and also those who speak malice.

17   What if I had not believed
that I should see the goodness of the Lord *
  in the land of the living!

18   O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure;
be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; *
  wait patiently for the Lord.


NEW TESTAMENT:   James 5: 13 - 20   (RCL)

Jame 5:13 (NRSV) Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any 
cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They 
should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, 
anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will 
save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed 
sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and 
pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous 
is powerful and effective. 17 Eli'jah was a human being like us, and he 
prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months 
it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave 
rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and 
is brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back a 
sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover 
a multitude of sins.


James 4: 13 - 17, 5: 7 - 11   (Can. BAS)
James 5: 1 - 6   (Roman Catholic)

Jame 4 (NRSV) 13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to 
such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making 
money." 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your 
life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 
15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this 
or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is 
evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, 
commits sin. 5:1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries 
that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are 
moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be 
evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up 
treasure for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed 
your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the 
harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on 
the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day 
of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does 
not resist you.
7 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer 
waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it 
receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also must be patient. 
Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Beloved, do 
not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the 
Judge is standing at the doors! 10 As an example of suffering and patience, 
beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Indeed we 
call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of 
Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is 
compassionate and merciful.


GOSPEL:  Mark 9: 38 - 50   (RCL)
                    Mark 9: 38 - 43, 45, 47 - 48   (Roman Catholic)

Mark 9:38 (NRSV) John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out 
demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following 
us." 39 But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of 
power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever 
is not against us is for us. 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a 
cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means 
lose the reward.
42 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who 
believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung 
around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes 
you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than 
to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if 
your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter 
life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your 
eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the 
kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into 
hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
49 "For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if salt has 
lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be 
at peace with one another."

Note that the NRSV and most other modern translations omit vs. 44 & 46.



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