SUNDAY BETWEEN 31 JULY AND 6 AUGUST YEAR
B
PROPER 13
TRACK 1
FIRST READING 2 Samuel 11.26 - 12.13a
A reading from the second book of Samuel.
26 When the wife
of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation
for him.
27 When the mourning
was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became
his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done
displeased the LORD,
1 The LORD sent
Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, 'There were
two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich man had
very many flocks and herds;
3 but the poor man
had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought
it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used
to eat of his meagre fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in
his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.
4 Now there came
a traveller to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his
own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to
him, but he took the poor man's lamb, and prepared that for the
guest who had come to him.'
5 Then David's anger
was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, 'As the
LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;
6 he shall restore
the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had
no pity.'
7 Nathan said to
David, 'You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:
I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand
of Saul;
8 I gave you your
master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave
you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too
little, I would have added as much more.
9 Why have you despised
the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have
struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his
wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the
Ammonites.
10 Now therefore
the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised
me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
11 Thus says the
LORD: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own
house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them
to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight
of this very sun.
12 For you did it
secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before
the sun.'
13 David said to
Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.' Nathan said to David,
'Now the LORD has put away your sin; you shall not die.'
PSALM Psalm 51.1-12
RR I know my transgressions, O God [and my sin is ever before
me].
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to
your loving-kindness; in your great compassion blot out my offences.
2 Wash me through
and through from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin. RR
3 For I know my
transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you only
have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.
5 And so you are
justified when you speak and upright in your judgement. RR
6 Indeed, I have
been wicked from my birth, a sinner from my mother's womb.
7 For behold, you
look for truth deep within me, and will make me understand wisdom
secretly. RR
8 Purge me from
my sin and I shall be pure; wash me and I shall be clean indeed.
9 Make me hear of
joy and gladness, that the body you have broken may rejoice.
10 Hide your face
from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. RR
11 Create in me
a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
12 Cast me not away
from your presence and take not your holy Spirit from me. RR
Or TRACK 2
FIRST READING Exodus 16.2-4, 9-15
A reading from the book of Exodus.
2 The whole congregation
of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
3 The Israelites
said to them, 'If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in
the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill
of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to
kill this whole assembly with hunger.'
4 Then the LORD
said to Moses, 'I am going to rain bread from heaven for you,
and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that
day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my
instruction or not.'
9 Then Moses said
to Aaron, 'Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, "Draw
near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining."'
10 And as Aaron
spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked
toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the
cloud.
11 The LORD spoke
to Moses and said,
12 'I have heard
the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, "At twilight
you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill
of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God."'
13 In the evening
quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there
was a layer of dew around the camp.
14 When the layer
of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine
flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
15 When the Israelites
saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not
know what it was. Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the
LORD has given you to eat.'
PSALM Psalm 78.23-29
RR The Lord gave them grain from heaven.
23 The Lord commanded the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 He rained down
manna upon them to eat and gave them grain from heaven.
25 So mortals ate
the bread of angels; he provided for them food enough. RR
26 He caused the
east wind to blow in the heavens And led out the south wind by
his might.
27 He rained down
flesh upon them like dust and winged birds like the sand of the
sea. RR
28 He let it fall
in the midst of their camp and round about their dwellings.
29 So they ate and
were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. RR
SECOND READING Ephesians 4.1-16
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.
1 I, the prisoner
in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which
you have been called,
2 with all humility
and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 making every effort
to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body
and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your
calling,
5 one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, 6 one
God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in
all.
7 But each of us
was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.
8 Therefore it is
said, 'When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
he gave gifts to his people.'
9 (When it says,
'He ascended,' what does it mean but that he had also descended
into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended
is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that
he might fill all things.)
11 The gifts he
gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
some pastors and teachers,
12 to equip the
saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until all of
us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of
Christ.
14 We must no longer
be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of
doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful
scheming.
15 But speaking
the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is
the head, into Christ,
16 from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which
it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the
body's growth in building itself up in love.
GOSPEL John 6.24-35
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
24 When the crowd
saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were at the place where
Jesus had given the bread, they themselves got into the boats
and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
25 When they found
him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when
did you come here?'
26 Jesus answered
them, 'Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because
you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
27 Do not work for
the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal
life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that
God the Father has set his seal.'
28 Then they said
to him, 'What must we do to perform the works of God?'
29 Jesus answered
them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he
has sent.'
30 So they said
to him, 'What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may
see it and believe you? What work are you performing?
31 Our ancestors
ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave
them bread from heaven to eat."'
32 Then Jesus said
to them, 'Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you
the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true
bread from heaven.
33 For the bread
of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to
the world.'
34 They said to
him, 'Sir, give us this bread always.'
35 Jesus said to
them, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never
be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'
