[Propertalk] READINGS for the LAST SUNDAY after the EPIPHANY

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany (Sunday next before Lent), Feb. 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 otherwise noted, the ECUSA, Canadian BAS and Common Worship readings are identical to the RCL this Sunday.


OLD TESTAMENT:  2 Kings 2: 1 - 12   (RCL)

2Kin 2:1 (NRSV) Now when the LORD was about to take Eli'jah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Eli'jah and Eli'sha were on their way from Gil'gal. 2 Eli'jah said to Eli'sha, "Stay here; for the LORD has sent me as far as Beth'el." But Eli'sha said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Beth'el. 3 The company of prophets who were in Beth'el came out to Eli'sha, and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?" And he said, "Yes, I know; keep silent." 
4 Eli'jah said to him, "Eli'sha, stay here; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho. 5 The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Eli'sha, and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know; be silent." 
6 Then Eli'jah said to him, "Stay here; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Eli'jah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground. 
9 When they had crossed, Eli'jah said to Eli'sha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you." Eli'sha said, "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit." 10 He responded, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not." 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Eli'jah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Eli'sha kept watching and crying out, "Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 


Deuteronomy 5: 12 - 15   (Roman Catholic)

Deut 5:12 (NRSV) Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work--you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day. 


PSALM 50: 1 - 6   (RCL)

Psal 50:1 (NRSV) The mighty one, God the LORD, 
speaks and summons the earth 
from the rising of the sun to its setting. 
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, 
God shines forth. 
3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, 
before him is a devouring fire, 
and a mighty tempest all around him. 
4 He calls to the heavens above 
and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 
5 "Gather to me my faithful ones, 
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!" 
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, 
for God himself is judge. 



Psalm 81: 2 - 7, 9 - 10   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 81:2 (NRSV) Raise a song, sound the tambourine, 
the sweet lyre with the harp. 
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, 
at the full moon, on our festal day. 
4 For it is a statute for Israel, 
an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 
5 He made it a decree in Joseph, 
when he went out over the land of Egypt. 
I hear a voice I had not known: 
6 "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; 
your hands were freed from the basket. 
7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; 
I answered you in the secret place of thunder; 
I tested you at the waters of Mer'ibah. [Se'lah] 

9 There shall be no strange god among you; 
you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 
10 I am the LORD your God, 
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. 

Note: Verse numbering in Roman Catholic bibles is one higher than the above.


NEW TESTAMENT:  2 Corinthians 4: 3 - 6   (RCL)

2Cor 4:3 (NRSV) And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. 6 For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 


2 Corinthians 4: 6 - 11   (Roman Catholic)

2Cor 4:6 (NRSV) For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 
7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. 11 For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 


GOSPEL:  Mark 9: 2 - 9 (RCL)

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. 


Mark 2: 23 -28 (3: 1 - 6)   (Roman Catholic)

Mark 2:23 (NRSV) One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Phar'isees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" 25 And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 He entered the house of God, when Abi'athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions." 27 Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath." 3:1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come forward." 4 Then he said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. 5 He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Phar'isees went out and immediately conspired with the Hero'dians against him, how to destroy him. 
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