Moses Drawing Water from the Rock, c.1640, Gioachino Assereto, oil on canvas at the Museo del Prado, Madrid.

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 September 20 - Eighteeth Sunday after Pentecost - Track 1: Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 Track 2: Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32; Psalm 25:1-8 for both: Philippians 2:1-13 and Matthew 21:23-32. 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 17:1-7

¹ The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?” ³ But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” ⁴ Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” ⁵ The LORD answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶ I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16

¹ Hear my teaching, O my people; *
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

² I will open my mouth in a parable; *
    I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.

³ That which we have heard and known,
    and what our forefathers have told us, *
    we will not hide from their children.

⁴ We will recount to generations to come
    the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the LORD, *
    and the wonderful works he has done.

¹² He worked marvels in the sight of their forefathers, *
    in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

¹³ He split open the sea and let them pass through; *
    he made the waters stand up like walls.

¹⁴ He led them with a cloud by day, *
    and all the night through with a glow of fire.

¹⁵ He split the hard rocks in the wilderness *
    and gave them drink as from the great deep.

¹⁶ He brought streams out of the cliff, *
    and the waters gushed out like rivers.

Track 2

Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32

¹ The word of the LORD came to me: ² “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “ ‘The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? ³ “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. ⁴ For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.

²⁵ “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶ If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. ²⁷ But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. ²⁸ Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²⁹ Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

³⁰ “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Psalm 25:1-8

¹ To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
    my God, I put my trust in you; *
    let me not be humiliated,
    nor let my enemies triumph over me.

² Let none who look to you be put to shame; *
    let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.

³ Show me your ways, O LORD, *
    and teach me your paths.

⁴ Lead me in your truth and teach me, *
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    in you have I trusted all the day long.

⁵ Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, *
    for they are from everlasting.

⁶ Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *
    remember me according to your love
    and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.

⁷ Gracious and upright is the LORD; *
    therefore he teaches sinners in his way.

⁸ He guides the humble in doing right *
    and teaches his way to the lowly.

for both

Philippians 2:1-13

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

    ⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
         did not consider equality with God
         something to be used to his own advantage;

    ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
         by taking the very nature of a servant,
         being made in human likeness.

    ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
         he humbled himself
         by becoming obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!

    ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
         and gave him the name
         that is above every name,

    ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus
         every knee should bow,
         in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

    ¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge
         that Jesus Christ is Lord,
         to the glory of God the Father.

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Matthew 21:23-32

²³ Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ “ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

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