[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), February 26, 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 lectionary is identical to the RCL for this day.
In the Roman Catholic Lectionary, this is the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Readings may be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022617.cfm.
For the Canadian BAS, one may use readings for either the Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany (given below), or the Last Sunday after the Epiphany (identical to the RCL below)


OLD TESTAMENT   Exodus 24: 12 - 18   (RCL)

Exod 24:12 (NRSV) The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction." 13 So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 To the elders he had said, "Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them." 
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. 


OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 49:8-16a    (alt. for Can. BAS)

Isa. 49:8 (NRSV) Thus says the Lord:
In a time of favour I have answered you,
   on a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you
   as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
   to apportion the desolate heritages;
9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,
   to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They shall feed along the ways,
   on all the bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 they shall not hunger or thirst,
   neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
   and by springs of water will guide them.
11 And I will turn all my mountains into a road,
   and my highways shall be raised up.
12 Lo, these shall come from far away,
   and lo, these from the north and from the west,
   and these from the land of Syene.

13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
   break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people,
   and will have compassion on his suffering ones.

14 But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me,
   my Lord has forgotten me.’
15 Can a woman forget her nursing-child,
   or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget,
   yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;



PSALM 2   (RCL)

Psal 2:1 (NRSV) Why do the nations conspire, 
and the peoples plot in vain? 
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, 
and the rulers take counsel together, 
against the LORD and his anointed, saying, 
3 "Let us burst their bonds asunder, 
and cast their cords from us." 
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; 
the LORD has them in derision. 
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, 
and terrify them in his fury, saying, 
6 "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill." 
7 I will tell of the decree of the LORD 
He said to me, "You are my son; 
today I have begotten you. 
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, 
and the ends of the earth your possession. 
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, 
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; 
be warned, O rulers of the earth. 
11 Serve the LORD with fear, 
with trembling 12 kiss his feet, 
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; 
for his wrath is quickly kindled. 
Happy are all who take refuge in him. 


Psalm 99   (alt. for RCL)

Psal 99:1 (NRSV) The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble! 
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 
2 The LORD is great in Zion; 
he is exalted over all the peoples. 
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name. 
Holy is he! 
4 Mighty King, lover of justice, 
you have established equity; 
you have executed justice 
and righteousness in Jacob. 
5 Extol the LORD our God; 
worship at his footstool. 
Holy is he! 
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, 
Samuel also was among those who called on his name. 
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them. 
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; 
they kept his decrees, 
and the statutes that he gave them. 
8 O LORD our God, you answered them; 
you were a forgiving God to them, 
but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 
9 Extol the LORD our God, 
and worship at his holy mountain; 
for the LORD our God is holy. 


131   Domine, non est     (alt. for Can. BAS)

1      O Lord, I am not proud; *
     I have no haughty looks.

2      I do not occupy myself with great matters, *
     or with things that are too hard for me.

3      But I still my soul and make it quiet,
like a child upon its mother's breast; *
     my soul is quieted within me.

4      O Israel, wait upon the Lord, *
     from this time forth for evermore.


NEW TESTAMENT   2 Peter 1: 16 - 21   (RCL)

2Pet 1:16 (NRSV) For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. 
19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 


1 Corinthians 4:1-5    (alt. for Can. BAS, Roman Catholic)

1 Cor. 4:1 (NRSV) Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. 4I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God. 


GOSPEL   Matthew 17: 1 - 9   (RCL)

Matt 17:1 (NRSV) Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Eli'jah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Eli'jah." 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." 10 And the disciples asked him, "Why, then, do the scribes say that Eli'jah must come first?" 


Matthew 6:24-34    (alt. for Can. BAS)

Matt. 6:24 (NRSV) ‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.*
     25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,* or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?* 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God* and his* righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
    34 ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.


Chad Wohlers
Woodbury, VT USA
chadwohl at satucket.com
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