SUNDAY BETWEEN 11 AND 17
SEPTEMBER YEAR B
PROPER 19
TRACK 1
FIRST READING Proverbs 1.20-33
A reading from the book of Proverbs.
20 Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she
raises her voice.
21 At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance
of the city gates she speaks:
22 'How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate
knowledge?
23 Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts
to you; I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused, have stretched
out my hand and no one heeded,
25 and because you have ignored all my counsel and would
have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when
panic strikes you,
27 when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity
comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the
fear of the LORD,
30 would have none of my counsel, and despised all my
reproof,
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and
be sated with their own devices.
32 For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency
of fools destroys them;
33 but those who listen to me will be secure and will
live at ease, without dread of disaster.'
PSALM OR CANTICLE
Either Psalm 19
RR The commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to
the eyes.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
shows his handiwork.
2 One day tells its tale to another, and one night imparts
knowledge to another.
3 Although they have no words or language, and their
voices are not heard,
4 Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their
message to the ends of the world. RR
5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; it comes
forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; it rejoices like a
champion to run its course.
6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
and runs about to the end of it again; nothing is hidden from
its burning heat. RR
7 The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.
8 The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.
RR
9 The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever;
the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, more than much
fine gold, sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb. RR
11 By them also is your servant enlightened, and in keeping
them there is great reward.
12 Who can tell how often he offends? Cleanse me from
my secret faults.
13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not get dominion over me; then shall I be whole and sound,
and innocent of a great offence. RR
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my
redeemer. RR
Or Wisdom of Solomon 7.26 - 8.1
RR God loves the person who lives with wisdom.
26 Wisdom is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless
mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. RR
27 Although she is but one, she can do all things, and
while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation
she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and
prophets;
28 for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives
with wisdom. RR
29 She is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every
constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found
to be superior,
30 for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom
evil does not prevail.
1 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the
other, and she orders all things well. RR
Or TRACK 2
FIRST READING Isaiah 50.4-9a
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The servant of the Lord said:
4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning
by morning he wakens - wakens my ear to listen as those who are
taught.
5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks
to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from
insult and spitting.
7 The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall
not be put to shame;
8 he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with
me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them
confront me.
9 It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me
guilty?
PSALM Psalm 116.1-8
RR I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the
living.
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of
my supplication, because he has inclined his ear to me whenever
I called upon him.
2 The cords of death entangled me; the grip of the grave
took hold of me; I came to grief and sorrow. RR
3 Then I called upon the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, I
pray you, save my life.'
4 Gracious is the Lord and righteous; our God is full
of compassion. RR
5 The Lord watches over the innocent; I was brought very
low and he helped me.
6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has
treated you well. RR
7 For you have rescued my life from death, my eyes from
tears and my feet from stumbling.
8 I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land
of the living. RR
SECOND READING James 3.1-12
A reading from the letter of James.
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers
and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with
greater strictness.
2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes
no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body
in check with a bridle.
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them
obey us, we guide their whole bodies.
4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it
takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very
small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts
of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small
fire!
6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among
our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body,
sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by
hell.
7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and
sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species,
8 but no one can tame the tongue - a restless evil, full
of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we
curse those who are made in the likeness of God.
10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers
and sisters, this ought not to be so.
11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both
fresh and brackish water?
12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives,
or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
GOSPEL Mark 8.27-38
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of
Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, 'Who
do people say that I am?'
28 And they answered him, 'John the Baptist; and others,
Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.'
29 Jesus asked them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Peter
answered him, 'You are the Messiah.'
30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about
him.
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must
undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief
priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days
rise again.
32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside
and began to rebuke him.
33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked
Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your
mind not on divine things but on human things.'
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to
them, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me.
35 For those who want to save their life will lose it,
and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of
the gospel, will save it.
36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world
and forfeit their life?
37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will
also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with
the holy angels.'
