The Daily Lectionary for SATURDAY, July 20, 2019

The Daily Lectionary

SATURDAY, July 20, 2019

(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)

(Semi-continuous Reading Plan)

Psalm 52

Judgment on the Deceitful
To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
1  Why do you boast, O mighty one,
     of mischief done against the godly?
     All day long 2 you are plotting destruction.
   Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
     you worker of treachery.
3  You love evil more than good,
     and lying more than speaking the truth.   Selah
4  You love all words that devour,
     O deceitful tongue.

5  But God will break you down forever;
     he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
     he will uproot you from the land of the living.   Selah
6  The righteous will see, and fear,
     and will laugh at the evildoer, saying,
7  “See the one who would not take
     refuge in God,
   but trusted in abundant riches,
     and sought refuge in wealth!”

8  But I am like a green olive tree
     in the house of God.
   I trust in the steadfast love of God
     forever and ever.
9  I will thank you forever,
     because of what you have done.
   In the presence of the faithful
     I will proclaim your name, for it is good.

Amos 6:1-14

Complacent Self-Indulgence Will Be Punished
6:1 Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,
     and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
   the notables of the first of the nations,
     to whom the house of Israel resorts!
2  Cross over to Calneh, and see;
     from there go to Hamath the great;
     then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
   Are you better than these kingdoms?
     Or is your territory greater than their territory,
3  O you that put far away the evil day,
     and bring near a reign of violence?

4  Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,
     and lounge on their couches,
   and eat lambs from the flock,
     and calves from the stall;
5  who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
     and like David improvise on instruments of music;
6  who drink wine from bowls,
     and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
     but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7  Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
     and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.

8  The Lord God has sworn by himself
   (says the Lord, the God of hosts):
   I abhor the pride of Jacob
     and hate his strongholds;
     and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.

9 If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And if a relative, one who burns the dead, shall take up the body to bring it out of the house, and shall say to someone in the innermost parts of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” the answer will come, “No.” Then the relative shall say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 See, the Lord commands,
     and the great house shall be shattered to bits,
     and the little house to pieces.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
     Does one plow the sea with oxen?
   But you have turned justice into poison
     and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,
     who say, “Have we not by our own strength
     taken Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation,
     O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
   and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
     to the Wadi Arabah.

Luke 8:4-10

The Parable of the Sower
8:4 When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. 7 Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

The Purpose of the Parables
9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that

   ‘looking they may not perceive,
     and listening they may not understand.’

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 Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2018 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable ...