EPIPHANY 9 YEAR B
SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE LENT
On this Sunday the Church of England allows only one of the two options in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Both provisions are given below. The Church of England provision is the first set.


FIRST READING 2 Kings 2.1-12

A reading from the second book of Kings.
1 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
2 Elijah said to Elisha, 'Stay here; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.' But Elisha said, 'As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.' So they went down to Bethel.
3 The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, 'Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?' And he said, 'Yes, I know; keep silent.'
4 Elijah said to him, 'Elisha, stay here; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.' But he said, 'As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.' So they came to Jericho.
5 The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, 'Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?' And he answered, 'Yes, I know; be silent.'
6 Then Elijah said to him, 'Stay here; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.' But he said, 'As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.' So the two of them went on.
7 Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.
8 Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, 'Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.' Elisha said, 'Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.'
10 He responded, 'You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.'
11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.
12 Elisha kept watching and crying out, 'Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!' But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.


PSALM Psalm 50.1-6

R R Our God will come and will not keep silence.

1 The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken; he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, God reveals himself in glory. R R
3 Our God will come and will not keep silence; before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm.
4 He calls the heavens and the earth from above to witness the judgement of his people. R R
5 'Gather before me my loyal followers, those who have made a covenant with me and sealed it with sacrifice.'
6 Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; for God himself is judge. R R


SECOND READING 2 Corinthians 4.3-6

A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
3 Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake.
6 For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.


GOSPEL Mark 9.2-9

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
2 Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.
4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Then Peter said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.'
6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!'
8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.


Or


REVISED COMMON LECTIONARY ONLY

FIRST READING Deuteronomy 5.12-15

A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.
The LORD says this:
12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.
13 Six days you shall labour and do all your work.
14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work - you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.
15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.


PSALM Psalm 81.1-10

R R Sing with joy to God our strength.

1 Sing with joy to God our strength and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song and sound the timbrel, the merry harp and the lyre.
3 Blow the ram's-horn at the new moon, and at the full moon, the day of our feast. R R
4 For this is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob.
5 He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph, when he came out of the land of Egypt. R R
6 I heard an unfamiliar voice saying, 'I eased his shoulder from the burden; his hands were set free from bearing the load.'
7 You called on me in trouble and I saved you; I answered you from the secret place of thunder and tested you at the waters of Meribah. R R
8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, 'Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.' R R


SECOND READING 2 Corinthians 4.5-12

A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
5 We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake.
6 For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.
11 For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.
12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.


GOSPEL Mark 2.23 - 3.6

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
23 One sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
24 The Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?'
25 And he said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?
26 He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.'
27 Then he said to them, 'The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath;
28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.'
1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, 'Come forward.'
4 Then he said to them, 'Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?' But they were silent.
5 He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
6 The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.