[Propertalk] READINGS for the FOURTH SUNDAY after the EPIPHANY

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, 
Jan. 31, 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: Jeremiah 1: 4 - 10 (RCL)
                                   Jeremiah 1: 4 - 5, 17 - 19 (Roman 
Catholic)

Jere 1:4 (NRSV) Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
6 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am 
only a boy." 7 But the LORD said to me,
"Do not say, "I am only a boy';
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you,
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
qsays the LORD."
9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to 
me,
"Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant."

17 But you, gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I 
command you. Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them. 
18 And I for my part have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, 
and a bronze wall, against the whole land--against the kings of Judah, its 
princes, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against 
you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the 
LORD, to deliver you.


Ezekiel 43: 27 - 44: 4 (C of E)

Ezek 43:27 (NRSV) When these days are over, then from the eighth day onward 
the priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings and your 
offerings of well-being; and I will accept you, says the Lord GOD.
44:1 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces 
east; and it was shut. 2 The LORD said to me: This gate shall remain shut; 
it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the LORD, the God 
of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only the 
prince, because he is a prince, may sit in it to eat food before the LORD; 
he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the 
same way. 4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the 
temple; and I looked, and lo! the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the 
LORD; and I fell upon my face.


PSALM 71: 1 - 6   (RCL)
Psalm 71: 1 - 6, 15, 17   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 71:1 (NRSV) In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of refuge,
a strong fortress, to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
it was you who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.

15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all day long,
though their number is past my knowledge.

17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.


Psalm 48 (C of E)

Psal 48:1 (NRSV) Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain,
2 beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
3 Within its citadels God
has shown himself a sure defense.
4 Then the kings assembled,
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic, they took to flight;
6 trembling took hold of them there,
pains as of a woman in labor,
7 as when an east wind shatters
the ships of Tar'shish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God establishes forever. [Se'lah]
9 We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10 Your name, O God, like your praise,
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad,
let the towns of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, go all around it,
count its towers,
13 consider well its ramparts;
go through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will be our guide forever.


NEW TESTAMENT: 1 Corinthians 13: 1 - 13 (RCL)
                                    1 Corinthians 12: 31 - 13: 4 (5 - 13) 
(Roman Catholic)

1Cor 12:31 (NRSV) But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a 
still more excellent way.
13:1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have 
love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic 
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all 
faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I 
give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may 
boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or 
resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all 
things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for 
tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we 
know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete 
comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like 
a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an 
adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, 
but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know 
fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love 
abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.


GOSPEL: Luke 4: 21 - 30 (RCL, Roman Catholic)

Luke 4:21 (NRSV) Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has 
been fulfilled in your hearing." 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at 
the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this 
Joseph's son?" 23 He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this 
proverb, "Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, "Do here also in your 
hometown the things that we have heard you did at Caper'naum.'" 24 And he 
said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. 
25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of 
Eli'jah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there 
was a severe famine over all the land; 26 yet Eli'jah was sent to none of 
them except to a widow at Zar'ephath in Si'don. 27 There were also many 
lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Eli'sha, and none of them was 
cleansed except Na'aman the Syrian." 28 When they heard this, all in the 
synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, 
and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that 
they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of 
them and went on his way.


Luke 2: 22 - 40 (C of E)

Luke 2:22 (NRSV) When the time came for their purification according to the 
law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 
(as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be 
designated as holy to the Lord"), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according 
to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two 
young pigeons."
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Sim'eon; this man was 
righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the 
Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit 
that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. 27 Guided 
by the Spirit, Sim'eon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in 
the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Sim'eon 
took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
33 And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said 
about him. 34 Then Sim'eon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This 
child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to 
be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be 
revealed--and a sword will pierce your own soul too."
36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phan'uel, of the tribe of 
Ash'er. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years 
after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never 
left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 
38 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the 
child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they 
returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child grew and 
became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.



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