SUNDAY BETWEEN 12 AND 18 JUNE YEAR B
(if after Trinity Sunday)
PROPER 6
TRACK 1
FIRST READING 1 Samuel 15.34 - 16.13
A reading from the first book of Samuel.
34 Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went
up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.
35 Samuel did not see Saul again until
the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD
was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.
1 The LORD said to Samuel, 'How long will
you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over
Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to
Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king
among his sons.'
2 Samuel said, 'How can I go? If Saul hears
of it, he will kill me. ' And the LORD said, 'Take a heifer with
you, and say, "I have come to sacrifice to the LORD."
3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I
will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the
one whom I name to you.'
4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and
came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling,
and said, 'Do you come peaceably?'
5 He said, 'Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice
to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.'
And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and
thought, 'Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the LORD.'
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not
look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because
I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see;
they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the
heart.'
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made
him pass before Samuel. He said, 'Neither has the LORD chosen
this one.'
9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And
he said, 'Neither has the LORD chosen this one.'
10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before
Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, 'The LORD has not chosen any
of these.'
11 Samuel said to Jesse, 'Are all your
sons here?' And he said, 'There remains yet the youngest, but
he is keeping the sheep.' And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send and
bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.'
12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was
ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said,
'Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.'
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and
anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of
the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel
then set out and went to Ramah.
PSALM Psalm 20
R We will call upon the name of the Lord
our God.
1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, the name
of the God of Jacob defend you;
2 Send you help from his holy place and
strengthen you out of Zion; R
3 Remember all your offerings and
accept your burnt sacrifice;
4 Grant you your heart's desire and prosper
all your plans. R
5 We will shout for joy at your
victory and triumph in the name of our God; may the Lord grant
all your requests.
6 Now I know that the Lord gives victory
to his anointed; he will answer him out of his holy heaven, with
the victorious strength of his right hand. R
7 Some put their trust in chariots
and some in horses, but we will call upon the name of the Lord
our God.
8 They collapse and fall down, but we will
arise and stand upright.
9 O Lord, give victory to the king and
answer us when we call. R
Or TRACK 2
FIRST READING Ezekiel 17.22-24
A reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel.
22 Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself
will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it
out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young
twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
23 On the mountain height of Israel I will
plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit,
and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live;
in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every
kind.
24 All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the LORD. I bring low the high tree, I make high the
low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
I the LORD have spoken; I will accomplish it.
PSALM Psalm 92.1-4, 11-14
R It is a good thing to give thanks to the
Lord.
1 It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord, and to
sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 To tell of your loving-kindness early
in the morning and of your faithfulness in the night season; R
3 On the psaltery and on the lyre
and to the melody of the harp.
4 For you have made me glad by your acts,
O Lord; and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
R
11 The righteous shall flourish
like a palm tree, and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
12 Those who are planted in the house of
the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God; R
13 They shall still bear fruit
in old age; they shall be green and succulent;
14 That they may show how upright the Lord
is, my rock, in whom there is no fault. R
SECOND READING (Short or long reading)
2 Corinthians 5.6-10, (11-13), 14-17
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the
Corinthians.
Brothers and sisters,
6 we are always confident; even though
we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from
the Lord -
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 Yes, we do have confidence, and we would
rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
9 So whether we are at home or away, we
make it our aim to please him.
10 For all of us must appear before the
judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense
for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.
[ 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the
Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known
to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences.
12 We are not commending ourselves to you
again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that
you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance
and not in the heart.
13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is
for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ]
14 The love of Christ urges us on, because
we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have
died.
15 And he died for all, so that those who
live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died
and was raised for them.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no
one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ
from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.
17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is
a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything
has become new!
GOSPEL Mark 4.26-34
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according
to Mark.
Such a large crowd gathered around Jesus that he got into a boat
and began to teach them using many parables.
26 Jesus said, 'The kingdom of God is as
if someone would scatter seed on the ground,
27 and would sleep and rise night and day,
and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.
28 The earth produces of itself, first
the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
29 But when the grain is ripe, at once
he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.'
30 Jesus also said, 'With what can we compare
the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?
31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when
sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;
32 yet when it is sown it grows up and
becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.'
33 With many such parables he spoke the
word to them, as they were able to hear it;
34 he did not speak to them except in parables,
but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
