[Propertalk] READINGS for the TWELFTH SUNDAY after PENTECOST

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, 
August 15, (Proper 15) 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.



OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 5: 1 - 7 (RCL)

Isai 5:1 (NRSV) Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!


Jeremiah 23: 23 - 29 (alt. for RCL)

Jere 23:23 (NRSV) Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God far off? 
24 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the LORD. 
Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD. 25 I have heard what the 
prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, "I have dreamed, I 
have dreamed!" 26 How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn 
back--those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own 
heart? 27 They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that 
they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Ba'al. 28 
Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my 
word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the 
LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, says the LORD, and like a hammer that 
breaks a rock in pieces?


Jeremiah 20: 7 - 13   (Can. BAS)

Jere 20:7 (NRSV) O LORD, you have enticed me,
and I was enticed;
you have overpowered me,
and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out,
I must shout, "Violence and destruction!"
For the word of the LORD has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
9 If I say, "I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,"
then within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 For I hear many whispering:
""Terror is all around!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!"
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble.
""Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him."
11 But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous,
you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the LORD;
praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers.


Jeremiah 38: 4 - 6, 8 - 10 (Roman Catholic)

Jere 38:4 (NRSV) Then the officials said to the king, "This man ought to be 
put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this 
city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is 
not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm." 5 King Zedeki'ah 
said, "Here he is; he is in your hands; for the king is powerless against 
you." 6 So they took Jeremi'ah and threw him into the cistern of Malchi'ah, 
the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremi'ah down 
by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremi'ah 
sank in the mud.
8 So E'bed-me'lech left the king's house and spoke to the king, 9 "My lord 
king, these men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremi'ah 
by throwing him into the cistern to die there of hunger, for there is no 
bread left in the city." 10 Then the king commanded E'bed-me'lech the 
Ethiopian, "Take three men with you from here, and pull the prophet 
Jeremi'ah up from the cistern before he dies."


PSALM 80: 1 - 2, 8 - 19 (RCL)

Psal 80:1 (NRSV) Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
2 before E'phraim and Benjamin and Manas'seh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea,
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted.
16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.
18 Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Note: Verse numbering in your Psalter may be different from the above.


Psalm 82 (alt. for RCL)

Psal 82:1 (NRSV) God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 "How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? [Se'lah]
3 Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk around in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I say, "You are gods,
children of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
and fall like any prince."
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth;
for all the nations belong to you!


Psalm 10: 12 - 18   (Can. BAS)

Psal 10:12 (NRSV) Rise up, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand;
do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God,
and say in their hearts, "You will not call us to account"?
14 But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief,
that you may take it into your hands;
the helpless commit themselves to you;
you have been the helper of the orphan.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers;
seek out their wickedness until you find none.
16 The LORD is king forever and ever;
the nations shall perish from his land.
17 O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek;
you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear
18 to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed,
so that those from earth may strike terror no more.

Note: Verse numbering in your Psalter may be different from the above.


Psalm 40: 1 - 3, 17   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 40:1 (NRSV) I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.

17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God.

Note: Verse numbering is one higher in Roman Catholic Bibles.


NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 11: 29 - 12: 2 (RCL)

Hebr 11:29 (NRSV) By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it 
were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for 
seven days. 31 By faith Ra'hab the prostitute did not perish with those who 
were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, 
Bar'ak, Samson, Jeph'thah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- 33 who 
through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, 
shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the 
sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign 
armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were 
tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better 
resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and 
imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were 
killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, 
persecuted, tormented-- 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered 
in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not 
receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so 
that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. 12:1 Therefore, since 
we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside 
every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with 
perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer 
and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before 
him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the 
right hand of the throne of God.


Hebresw 12: 1 - 2, 12 - 17   (Can. BAS)
Hebrews 12: 1 - 4 (Roman Catholic)

Hebr 12:1 (NRSV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of 
witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so 
closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 
looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of 
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, 
and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so 
that you may not grow weary or lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin 
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and 
make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out 
of joint, but rather be healed.
14 Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will 
see the Lord.
15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of 
bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become 
defiled. 16 See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless 
person, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 You know that later, 
when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no 
chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears.


GOSPEL: Luke 12: 49 - 56 (RCL)
                  Luke 12: 49 - 53 (Roman Catholic)

Luke 12:49 (NRSV) "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were 
already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what 
stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to 
bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now 
on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against 
three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
54 He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you 
immediately say, "It is going to rain'; and so it happens. 55 And when you 
see the south wind blowing, you say, "There will be scorching heat'; and it 
happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of 
earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?


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