Moses Before the Burning Bush, 1613-14, Domenico Fetti, oil on canvas at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are online here. The group disbanded but the readings below follow the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in Episcopal worship.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for August 30 - Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Track 1: Exodus 3:1-15, Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c Track 2: Jeremiah 15:15-21; Psalm 26:1-8 for both: Romans 12:9-21 and Matthew 16:21-28. The text is from Bible Study Tools -- New International Version. The Psalms are from the most recent print version of The Book of Common Prayer - 2016.

Track 1

Exodus 3:1-15

¹ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” ⁴ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” ⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” ¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” ¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

    “This is my name forever,
         the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c

¹ Give thanks to the LORD and call upon his Name; *
    make known his deeds among the peoples.

² Sing to him, sing praises to him, *
    and speak of all his marvelous works.

³ Glory in his holy Name; *
    let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴ Search for the LORD and his strength; *
    continually seek his face.

⁵ Remember the marvels he has done, *
    his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,

⁶ O offspring of Abraham his servant, *
    O children of Jacob his chosen.

²³ Israel came into Egypt, *
    and Jacob became a sojourner in the land of Ham.

²⁴ The LORD made his people exceedingly fruitful; *
    he made them stronger than their enemies;

²⁵ Whose heart he turned, so that they hated his people, *
    and dealt unjustly with his servants.

²⁶ He sent Moses his servant, *
    and Aaron whom he had chosen.

^45c Hallelujah!

Track 2

Jeremiah 15:15-21

¹⁵ LORD, you understand;
     remember me and care for me.
     Avenge me on my persecutors.

You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
     think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

¹⁶ When your words came, I ate them;
     they were my joy and my heart’s delight,

for I bear your name,
     LORD God Almighty.

¹⁷ I never sat in the company of revelers,
     never made merry with them;

I sat alone because your hand was on me
     and you had filled me with indignation.

¹⁸ Why is my pain unending
     and my wound grievous and incurable?

You are to me like a deceptive brook,
     like a spring that fails.

¹⁹ Therefore this is what the LORD says:

“If you repent, I will restore you
     that you may serve me;

if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
     you will be my spokesman.

Let this people turn to you,
     but you must not turn to them.

²⁰ I will make you a wall to this people,
     a fortified wall of bronze;

they will fight against you
     but will not overcome you,

for I am with you
     to rescue and save you,”

declares the LORD.

²¹ “I will save you from the hands of the wicked
     and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.”

Psalm 26:1-8

¹ Give judgment for me, O LORD,
    for I have lived with integrity; *
    I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.

² Test me, O LORD, and try me; *
    examine my heart and my mind.

³ For your love is before my eyes; *
    I have walked faithfully with you.

⁴ I have not sat with the worthless, *
    nor do I consort with the deceitful.

⁵ I have hated the company of evildoers; *
    I will not sit down with the wicked.

⁶ I will wash my hands in innocence, O LORD, *
    that I may go in procession round your altar,

⁷ Singing aloud a song of thanksgiving *
    and recounting all your wonderful deeds.

⁸ LORD, I love the house in which you dwell *
    and the place where your glory abides.

For both

Romans 12:9-21

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Matthew 16:21-28

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. ²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” ²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. ²⁸ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools and the Online Book of Common Prayer for the text.