EPIPHANY 4
The Church of England provides a different Second Reading from the Revised Common Lectionary.

FIRST READING Deuteronomy 18.15-20

A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.
Moses spoke to the people; he said:
15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.
16 This is what you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: 'If I hear the voice of the LORD my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.'
17 Then the LORD replied to me: 'They are right in what they have said.
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.
19 Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable.
20 But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak - that prophet shall die.'


PSALM Psalm 111

R R Great are the deeds of the Lord! [They are studied by all who delight in them.]

1 Alleluia! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the deeds of the Lord! they are studied by all who delight in them.
3 His work is full of majesty and splendour, and his righteousness endures for ever. R R
4 He makes his marvellous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
5 He gives food to those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works in giving them the lands of the nations. R R
7 The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice; all his commandments are sure.
8 They stand fast for ever and ever, because they are done in truth and equity. R R
9 He sent redemption to his people; he commanded his covenant for ever; holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; those who act accordingly have a good understanding; his praise endures for ever. R R


SECOND READING

Either (Revised Common Lectionary) 1 Corinthians 8.1-13

A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
1 Concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that 'all of us possess knowledge.' Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
2 Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge;
3 but anyone who loves God is known by him.
4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that 'no idol in the world really exists,' and that 'there is no God but one.'
5 Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth - as in fact there are many gods and many lords -
6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
7 It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8 'Food will not bring us close to God.' We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.
9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block to the weak.
10 For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols?
11 So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed.
12 But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
13 Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

Or Revelation 12.1-5a

A reading from the book of Revelation.
1 A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.
3 Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.


GOSPEL Mark 1.21-28

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
21 The disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, John entered the synagogue and taught.
22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit,
24 and he cried out, 'What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.'
25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be silent, and come out of him!'
26 And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.
27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, 'What is this? A new teaching - with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.'
28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.