The spires at St. Martin's Church

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 June 7 - Second Sunday after Pentecost --Track 1: Genesis 12:1-9; Psalm 33:1-12 Track 2: Hosea 5:15-6:6; Psalm 50:7-15 for both: Romans 4:13-25 and Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26. The text is from the Bible Study Tools -- New International Version. The Psalms are from the most recent print version of The Book of Common Prayer - 2016.

Track 1:

Genesis 12:1-9

¹ The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. ² “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

⁴ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. ⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. ⁹ Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Psalm 33:1-12

¹ Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous; *
    it is good for the just to sing praises.

² Praise the LORD with the harp; *
    play to him upon the psaltery and lyre.

³ Sing for him a new song; *
    sound a fanfare with all your skill upon the trumpet.

⁴ For the word of the LORD is right, *
    and all his works are sure.

⁵ He loves righteousness and justice; *
    the loving-kindness of the LORD fills the whole earth.

⁶ By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, *
    by the breath of his mouth all the heavenly hosts.

⁷ He gathers up the waters of the ocean as in a water-skin *
    and stores up the depths of the sea.

⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD; *
    let all who dwell in the world stand in awe of him.

⁹ For he spoke, and it came to pass; *
    he commanded, and it stood fast.

¹⁰ The LORD brings the will of the nations to naught; *
    he thwarts the designs of the peoples.

¹¹ But the LORD'S will stands fast for ever, *
    and the designs of his heart from age to age.

¹² Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD! *
    happy the people he has chosen to be his own!

Track 2:

Hosea 5:15-6:6

Thus says the Lord: ¹⁵ "Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face— in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” ¹ “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. ² After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. ³ Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” ⁴ “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. ⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth— then my judgments go forth like the sun. ⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Psalm 50:7-15

⁷ Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
    "O Israel, I will bear witness against you; *
    for I am God, your God.

⁸ I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices; *
    your offerings are always before me.

⁹ I will take no bull-calf from your stalls, *
    nor he-goats out of your pens;

¹⁰ For all the beasts of the forest are mine, *
    the herds in their thousands upon the hills.

¹¹ I know every bird in the sky, *
    and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.

¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you, *
    for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.

¹³ Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *
    or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving *
    and make good your vows to the Most High.

¹⁵ Call upon me in the day of trouble; *
    I will deliver you, and you shall honor me."

for both:

Romans 4:13-25

¹³ It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. ¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” ²³ The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”

he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. ¹⁰ While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁸ While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. ²⁰ Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹ She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” ²² Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. ²³ When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, ²⁴ he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News of this spread through all that region.

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