TRINITY XVII 

The Collect

LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Lesson

Jeremiah 13:15-21

(The Lesson is written in the 13th chapter of the Book of Jeremiah the Prophet, beginning at the 21st verse.)

Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock is carried away captive. Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory. The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive. Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? For thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

Here endeth the Lesson

Psalm

Psalm 116

1 UNTO thee, O LORD, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee: * O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.

2 For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed; * but such as transgress without a cause shall be put to confusion.

3 Show me thy ways, O LORD, * and teach me thy paths.

4 Lead me forth in thy truth, and learn me: * for thou art the God of my salvation; in thee hath been my hope all the day long.

5 Call to remembrance, O LORD, thy tender mercies, * and thy loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of old.

6 O remember not the sins and offences of my youth; * but according to thy mercy think thou upon me, O LORD, for thy goodness.

7 Gracious and righteous is the LORD; * therefore, will he teach sinners in the way.

8 Them that are meek shall he guide in judgment; * and such as are gentle, them shall he learn his way.

9 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, * unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

10 For thy Name's sake, O LORD, * be merciful unto my sin; for it is great.

11 What man is he that feareth the LORD? * him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

12 His soul shall dwell at ease, * and his seed shall inherit the land.

13 The secret of the LORD is among them that fear him; * and he will show them his covenant.

14 Mine eyes are ever looking unto the LORD; * for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. 

15 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; * for I am desolate, and in misery.

16 The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: * O bring thou me out of my troubles.

17 Look upon my adversity and misery, * and forgive me all my sin.

18 Consider mine enemies, how many they are; * and they bear a tyrannous hate against me.

19 O keep my soul, and deliver me: * let me not be confounded, for I have put my trust in thee.

20 Let perfectness and righteous dealing wait upon me; * for my hope hath been in thee. 21 Deliver Israel, O God, * out of all his troubles.

Epistle 

Ephesians iv. 1.

(The Epistle is written in the 4th chapter of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, beginning at the 1st verse.)

I THEREFORE, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Here endeth the Epistle.

GOSPEL

St. Luke xiv. 1.

IT came to pass, as Jesus went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these things. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

TRINITY XVIII 

The Collect

LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Lesson

Amos 8:4–12

(The Lesson is written in the 8th chapter of the Book of Amos the Prophet, beginning at the 13th verse.)

Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Here endeth the Lesson

Psalm

Psalm 62

MY soul truly waiteth still upon God; * for of him cometh my salvation.

2 He verily is my strength and my salvation; * he is my defence, so that I shall not greatly fall.

3 How long will ye imagine mischief against every man? * Ye shall be slain all the sort of you; yea, as a tottering wall shall ye be, and like a broken hedge.

4 Their device is only how to put him out whom God will exalt; * their delight is in lies; they give good words with their mouth, but curse with their heart.

5 Nevertheless, my soul, wait thou still upon God; * for my hope is in him.

6 He truly is my strength and my salvation; * he is my defence, so that I shall not fall.

7 In God is my health and my glory; * the rock of my might; and in God is my trust.

8 O put your trust in him alway, ye people; * pour out your hearts before him, for God is our hope.

9 As for the children of men, they are but vanity; the children of men are deceitful; * upon the weights they are altogether lighter than vanity itself.

10 O trust not in wrong and robbery; give not yourselves unto vanity: * if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

11 God spake once, and twice I have also heard the same, * that power belongeth unto God;

12 And that thou, Lord, art merciful; * for thou rewardest every man according to his work.

Psalm 63

O GOD, thou art my God; * early will I seek thee.

2 My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh also longeth after thee, * in a barren and dry land where no water is.

3 Thus have I looked for thee in the sanctuary, * that I might behold thy power and glory.

4 For thy loving-kindness is better than the life itself: * my lips shall praise thee.

5 As long as I live will I magnify thee in this manner, * and lift up my hands in thy Name.

Epistle 

1 Corinthians i. 4.

(The Epistle is written in the 1st chapter of the First Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians beginning at the 4th verse.)

I THANK my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here endeth the Epistle.

GOSPEL

St. Matthew xxii. 34.

WHEN the Pharisees had heard that Jesus had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

TRINITY XIX 

The Collect

O GOD, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Lesson

Job 24:1-17

(The Lesson is written in the 24th chapter of the Book of Job, beginning at the 1st verse.)

Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them. They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

Here endeth the Lesson

Psalm

Psalm 72

1 GIVE the King thy judgments, O God, * and thy righteousness unto the King's son.

2 Then shall he judge thy people according unto right, * and defend the poor.

3 The mountains also shall bring peace, * and the little hills righteousness unto the people. 

4 He shall keep the simple folk by their right, * defend the children of the poor, and punish the wrong doer.

5 They shall fear thee, as long as the sun and moon endureth, * from one generation to another.

6 He shall come down like the rain upon the mown grass, * even as the drops that water the earth.

7 In his time shall the righteous flourish; * yea, and abundance of peace, so long as the moon endureth.

8 His dominion shall be also from the one sea to the other, * and from the River unto the world's end.

9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall kneel before him; * his enemies shall lick the dust.

10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall give presents; * the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts.

11 All kings shall fall down before him; * all nations shall do him service.

12 For he shall deliver the poor when he crieth; * the needy also, and him that hath no helper.

13 He shall be favourable to the simple and needy, * and shall preserve the souls of the poor.

14 He shall deliver their souls from falsehood and wrong; * and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

15 He shall live, and unto him shall be given of the gold of Arabia; * prayer shall be made ever unto him, and daily shall he be praised.

16 There shall be an heap of corn in the earth, high upon the hills ; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: * and they of the city shall flourish like grass upon the earth.

17 His Name shall endure for ever; his Name shall re-main under the sun among the posterities, which shall be blessed in him; * and all the nations shall praise him.

Epistle 

Ephesians iv. 17.

(The Epistle is written in the 4th chapter of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, beginning at the 17th verse.)

THIS I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that yet henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Here endeth the Epistle.

GOSPEL

St. Matthew ix. 1.

JESUS entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.