May 1 Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:8-20
1 Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21
Acts 22-31
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see
how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked
carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the
inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim
to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and
earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands,
as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and
all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he
allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would
live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him--though
indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For 'In him we live and move and have our
being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' 29 Since
we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or
stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked
the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because
he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom
he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the
dead."
Psalm 8-20
8 Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard, 9 who has
kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip. 10 For you, O God, have tested
us; you have tried us as silver is tried. 11 You brought us into the net; you laid burdens
on our backs; 12 you let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and through
water; yet you have brought us out to a spacious place. 13 I will come into your house
with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows, 14 those that my lips uttered and my mouth
promised when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatlings, with
the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah 16
Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me. 17 I cried
aloud to him, and he was extolled with my tongue. 18 If I had cherished iniquity in my
heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 But truly God has listened; he has given heed
to the words of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or
removed his steadfast love from me.
1 Peter 13-22
13 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14 But even if
you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do
not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make
your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16
yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are
maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For
it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer
for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made
alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in
prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of
Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved
through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of
dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God,
with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
John 15-21
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the
Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.
You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave
you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that
I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep
them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will
love them and reveal myself to them."
May 5 Ascension of the Lord
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 or Psalm 93
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53
Acts 1-11
1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught
from the beginning
2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy
Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs,
appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for
the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from
me;
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many
days from now."
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you
will restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7 He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set
by his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out
of their sight.
10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white
robes stood by them.
11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus,
who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go
into heaven."
Psalm 47
47:1 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.
47:2 For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.
47:3 He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.
47:4 He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
47:5 God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
47:6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
47:7 For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm.
47:8 God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
47:9 The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the
shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted.
Psalm 93
93:1 The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded
with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved;
93:2 your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
93:3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods
lift up their roaring.
93:4 More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the
sea, majestic on high is the LORD!
93:5 Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.
Ephesians 1:15-23
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the
saints, and for this reason
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a
spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,
18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to
which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to
the working of his great power.
20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at
his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for
the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Luke 44-53
44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I
was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets,
and the psalms must be fulfilled."
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,
46 and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to
rise from the dead on the third day,
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until
you have been clothed with power from on high."
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.
51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.
52 And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;
53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
May 4 Seventh Sunday of Easter
Collect Traditional
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great
triumph to thy kingdom in heaven: We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless, but send us
thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us to the same place where our Savior Christ is
gone before; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world
without end.
Collect Contemporary
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great
triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy
Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone
before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.
Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
John 17:1-11
Acts 6-14
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time
when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He replied, "It is not for you
to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 When he had
said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their
sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in
white robes stood by them. 11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up
toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the
same way as you saw him go into heaven." 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the
mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. 13 When they
had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and
John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of
Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All these were constantly
devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of
Jesus, as well as his brothers.
Psalm 1-10, 32-35
1 Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee
before him. 2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire,
let the wicked perish before God. 3 But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before
God; let them be jubilant with joy. 4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a
song to him who rides upon the clouds--his name is the LORD-- be exultant before him. 5
Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. 6 God gives the
desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious
live in a parched land. 7 O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched
through the wilderness, Selah 8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the
presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9 Rain in
abundance, O God, you showered abroad; you restored your heritage when it languished; 10
your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. 32
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; sing praises to the Lord, Selah 33 O rider in the
heavens, the ancient heavens; listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. 34 Ascribe
power to God, whose majesty is over Israel; and whose power is in the skies. 35 Awesome is
God in his sanctuary, the God of Israel; he gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!
1 Peter 12-14, 6-11
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among
you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar
as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy
when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed,
because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. 6 Humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Discipline yourselves, keep
alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to
devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters
in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have
suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory
in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the
power forever and ever. Amen.
John 1-11
1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said,
"Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since
you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have
given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you
gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had
in your presence before the world existed. 6 "I have made your name known to those
whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have
kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the
words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in
truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on
their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave
me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been
glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and
I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that
they may be one, as we are one.
May 11 Day of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21 or Numbers 11:24-30
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 or Acts 2:1-21
John 20:19-23 or John 7:37-39
[If the passage from Numbers is chosen for the First Reading, the passage from Acts
is used as the Second Reading.]
Acts 2:1-21
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it
filled the entire house where they were sitting.
2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as
the Spirit gave them ability.
2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them
speaking in the native language of each.
2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus
and Asia,
2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors
from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of
power."
2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this
mean?"
2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men
of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I
say.
2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the
morning.
2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and
they shall prophesy.
2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and
fire, and smoky mist.
2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the
Lord's great and glorious day.
2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
Numbers 11:24-30
11:24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered
seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent.
11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit
that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them,
they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
11:26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the
spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the
tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.
11:27 And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the
camp."
11:28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My
lord Moses, stop them!"
11:29 But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's
people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!"
11:30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
104:24 O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
104:25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living
things both small and great.
104:26 There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
104:27 These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
104:28 when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled
with good things.
104:29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they
die and return to their dust.
104:30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the
ground.
104:31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works--
104:32 who looks onthe earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
104:33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I
have being.
104:34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
104:35b Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
12:3b No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
12:5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
12:6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of
them in everyone.
12:7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
12:8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the
utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
12:10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment
of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
12:11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one
individually just as the Spirit chooses.
12:12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body,
though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
12:13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or
free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Acts 2:1-21
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it
filled the entire house where they were sitting.
2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as
the Spirit gave them ability.
2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them
speaking in the native language
of each.
2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus
and Asia,
2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors
from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of
power."
2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this
mean?"
2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men
of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I
say.
2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the
morning.
2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and
they shall prophesy.
2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and
fire, and smoky mist.
2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the
Lord's great and glorious day.
2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
John 20:19-23
20:19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the
doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus
came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I
send you."
20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy
Spirit.
20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of
any, they are retained."
John 7:37-39
7:37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he
cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
7:38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the
believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'"
7:39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet
there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
May 18 Trinity Sunday
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Psalm 8
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
1:2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind
from God swept over the face of the waters.
1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
1:4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and
there was morning, the first day.
1:6 And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it
separate the waters from the waters."
1:7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters
that were above the dome. And it was so.
1:8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
1:9 And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place,
and let the dry land appear." And it was so.
1:10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called
Seas. And God saw that it was good.
1:11 Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and
fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was
so.
1:12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of
every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.
1:13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
1:14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day
from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
1:15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth." And
it was so.
1:16 God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light
to rule the night--and the stars.
1:17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth,
1:18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good.
1:19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
1:20 And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let
birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky."
1:21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every
kind, with which the waters swarm,and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it
was good.
1:22 God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the
seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
1:23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
1:24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle
and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so.
1:25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind,
and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
1:26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creeps upon the earth."
1:27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and
female he created them.
1:28 God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
1:29 God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face
of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that
creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green
plant for food." And it was so.
1:31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was
evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.
2:2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the
seventh day from all the work that he had done.
2:3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the
work that he had done in creation.
2:4a These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
Psalm 8
8:1 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You
have set your glory above the heavens.
8:2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your
foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
8:3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you
have established;
8:4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
8:5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
8:6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things
under their feet,
8:7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8:8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the
seas.
8:9 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
13:11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to
my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be
with you.
13:12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.
13:13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Spirit be with all of you.
Matthew 28:16-20
28:16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus
had directed them.
28:17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me.
28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
28:20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am
with you always, to the end of the age."
May 25 Second Sunday after Pentecost Proper 3
(Epiphany VIII)
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Psalm 131
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Thus says the LORD: In a time of favor 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; 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; 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. And I will turn all my mountains
into a road, and my highways shall be raised up. Lo, these shall come from far away, and
lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene. 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. But Zion said,
"The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me." 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. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
Psalm 131
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.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
hink of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.
Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But 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. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is
the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment 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.
Matthew 6:24-34
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. 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? Look 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? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do
you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither
toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of
these. But 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? Therefore do
not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or
‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and
indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s
trouble is enough for today."
June 1 Third Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 4
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
Psalm 46 or Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28
Psalm 31:1-5, 19-24
Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28, (29-31)
Matthew 7:21-29
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
6:9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his
generation; Noah walked with God.
6:10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
6:12 And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the
earth.
6:13 And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the
earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with
the earth.
6:14 Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and
out with pitch.
6:15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width
fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
6:16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark
in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.
6:17 For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from
under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth
shall die.
6:18 But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your
sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
6:19 And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the
ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
6:20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds,
of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come
in to you, to keep them alive.
6:21 Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall
serve as food for you and for them."
6:22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
7:24 And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred fifty days.
8:14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
8:15 Then God said to Noah,
8:16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with
you.
8:17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh--birds and
animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth--so that they may abound on the
earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
8:18 So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives.
8:19 And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the
earth, went out of the ark by families.
Psalm 46
46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
46:2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains
shake in the heart of the sea;
46:3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
46:4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the
Most High.
46:5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the
morning dawns.
46:6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth
melts.
46:7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
46:8 Come, behold the works of the LORD; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
46:9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the
spear; he burns the shields with fire.
46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted
in the earth."
46:11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28
11:18 You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them
as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.
11:19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you
are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
11:20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
11:21 so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that
the LORD swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
11:26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
11:27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding
you today;
11:28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn
from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known.
Psalm 31:1-5, 19-24
31:1 In you, O LORD, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your
righteousness deliver me.
31:2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong
fortress to save me.
31:3 You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name's sake lead me and guide me,
31:4 take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
31:5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
31:19 O how abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who fear you, and
accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of everyone!
31:20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots; you hold them safe
under your shelter from contentious tongues.
31:21 Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was
beset as a city under siege.
31:22 I had said in my alarm, "I am driven far from your sight." But you heard
my supplications when I cried out to you for help.
31:23 Love the LORD, all you his saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but abundantly
repays the one who acts haughtily.
31:24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD.
Romans 1:16-17, 3:22b-28, (29-31)
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is
written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith."
3:22b For there is no distinction,
3:23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
3:24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus,
3:25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through
faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had
passed over the sins previously committed;
3:26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he
justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
3:27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but
by the law of faith.
3:28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the
law.
3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles
also,
3:30 since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the
uncircumcised through that same faith.
3:31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold
the law.
Matthew 7:21-29
7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
7:22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and
cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?'
7:23 Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'
7:24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a
wise man who built his house on rock.
7:25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did
not fall, because it had been founded on rock.
7:26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a
foolish man who built his house on sand.
7:27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house,
and it fell--and great was its fall!"
7:28 Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his
teaching,
7:29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
