SUNDAY BETWEEN 18 AND 24
SEPTEMBER YEAR B
PROPER 20
TRACK 1
FIRST READING Proverbs 31.10-31
A reading from the book of Proverbs.
10 A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious
than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will
have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her
life.
13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her
food from far away.
15 She rises while it is still night and provides food
for her household and tasks for her servant-girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of
her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms
strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her
lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold
the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her
hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all her household are clothed in crimson.
22 She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen
and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his
seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies
the merchant with sashes.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs
at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of
kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household, and does
not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband
too, and he praises her:
29 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass
them all.'
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman
who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let
her works praise her in the city gates.
PSALM Psalm 1
RR Happy are they who delight in the law of the Lord.
1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of
the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the
seats of the scornful!
2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate
on his law day and night. RR
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing
fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything
they do shall prosper. RR
4 It is not so with the wicked: they are like chaff which
the wind blows away;
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgement
comes, nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the
way of the wicked is doomed. RR
Or TRACK 2
FIRST READING (Alternative readings)
Either Wisdom of Solomon 1.16 - 2.1, 12-22
A reading from the
book of Wisdom.
16 The ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;
considering him a friend, they pined away and made a covenant
with him, because they are fit to belong to his company.
1 For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
'Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when
a life comes to its end, and no one has been known to return from
Hades.
12 Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he
is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us
for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself
a child of the Lord.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
15 the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his
manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange.
16 We are considered by him as something base, and he
avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous
happy, and boasts that God is his father.
17 Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what
will happen at the end of his life;
18 for if the righteous man is God's child, he will help
him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
19 Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we
may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance.
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according
to what he says, he will be protected.'
21 Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their
wickedness blinded them,
22 and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor
hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless
souls;
Or Jeremiah 11.18-20
A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah.
18 It was the LORD who made it known to me, and I knew;
then you showed me their evil deeds.
19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.
And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes,
saying,
'Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from
the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!'
20 But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously, who
try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
PSALM Psalm 54
RR The Lord sustains my life.
1 Save me, O God, by your name; in your might, defend
my cause.
2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my
mouth. RR
3 For the arrogant have risen up against me, and the
ruthless have sought my life, those who have no regard for God.
4 Behold, God is my helper; it is the Lord who sustains
my life. RR
5 Render evil to those who spy on me; in your faithfulness,
destroy them.
6 I will offer you a freewill sacrifice and praise your
name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 For you have rescued me from every trouble, and my
eye has seen the ruin of my foes. RR
SECOND READING James 3.13 - 4.3, 7-8a
A reading from the letter of James.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your
good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in
your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.
15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly,
unspiritual, devilish.
16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there
will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without
a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.
18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for
those who make peace.
1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they
come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war
within you?
2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit
murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage
in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not
ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly,
in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
GOSPEL Mark 9.30-37
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
After leaving the mountain
30 Jesus and his disciples went on from there and passed
through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it;
31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them,
'The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will
kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.'
32 But they did not understand what he was saying and
were afraid to ask him.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the
house he asked them, 'What were you arguing about on the way?'
34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued
with one another who was the greatest.
35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, 'Whoever
wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.'
36 Then he took a little child and put it among them;
and taking it in his arms, he said to them,
37 'Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes
me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent
me.'
