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The
Lessons Appointed for Use on the |
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Sunday closest to July 20 |
Year
A
BCP | |
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The Collect
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our
necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on
our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our
unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the
worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The Old Testament
Genesis 28:10-19a
-
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went
toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night,
because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put
it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there
was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and
the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the LORD
stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your
father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to
you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of
the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and
to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall
be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and
will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for
I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Then
Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--
and I did not know it!" And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is
this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven."
So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the
stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and
poured oil on the top of it. He called that place
Bethel ."
The Psalm
Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23 Page 794, BCP
Domine, probasti
- 1
- LORD, you have searched me out and known me;
*
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my
thoughts from afar.
- 2
- You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are
acquainted with all my ways.
- 3
- Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O LORD, know
it altogether.
- 4
- You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon
me.
- 5
- Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I
cannot attain to it.
- 6
- Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
where can I flee from
your presence?
- 7
- If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make the grave
my bed, you are there also.
- 8
- If I take the wings of the morning *
and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea,
- 9
- Even there your hand will lead me *
and your right hand hold me
fast.
- 10
- If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, *
and the light
around me turn to night,"
- 11
- Darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day;
*
darkness and light to you are both alike.
- 22
- Search me out, O God, and know my heart; *
try me and know my
restless thoughts.
- 23
- Look well whether there be any wickedness in me *
and lead me
in the way that is everlasting.
-
The Epistle
Romans 8:12-25
Brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to
live according to the flesh-- for if you live according to the flesh, you
will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you
will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but
you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is
that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of
God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ-- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified
with him.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the
creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of
God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but
by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself
will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of
the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been
groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we
ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while
we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were
saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with
patience.
. The Gospel
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43
Jesus put before the crowd another parable: "The kingdom
of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but
while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat,
and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the
weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to
him, `Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did
these weeds come from?' He answered, `An enemy has done this.' The slaves
said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied,
`No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with
them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest
time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in
bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his
disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds
of the field." He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of
Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the
kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who
sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the
reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with
fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his
angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all
evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like
the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears
listen!"
Optional parts of the readings are set off in
square brackets.
The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons
are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of
Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
The Collects, Psalms and Canticles are from the Book of Common
Prayer, 1979.
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