[Propertalk] READINGS for the TENTH SUNDAY after PENTECOST

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, 
August 18, (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 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 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.


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.


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
chadwohl at satucket.com
Woodbury, VT   USA