Holy Bible Readings Sunday, July 15, 2018 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Bible Readings Sunday, July 15, 2018 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Mark 4:1-12 1 On another occasion he began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. 2 And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 3 Hear this! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. 8 And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. 9 He added, Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear. 10 And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. 11 He answered them, The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, 12 so that they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven. Exodus 3:9-15 9 Now indeed the outcry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 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? 1

12 God answered: I will be with you; and this will be your sign that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God at this mountain. 13 But, said Moses to God, if I go to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your ancestors has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? what do I tell them? 14 God replied to Moses: I am who I am. Then he added: This is what you will tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you. 15 God spoke further to Moses: This is what you will say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations. Job 23:1-7 1 Then Job answered and said: 2 Today especially my complaint is bitter, his hand is heavy upon me in my groanings. 3 Would that I knew how to find him that I might come to his dwelling! 4 I would set out my case before him, fill my mouth with arguments; 5 I would learn the words he would answer me, understand what he would say to me. 6 Would he contend against me with his great power? No, he himself would heed me! 7 There an upright man might argue with him, and I would once and for all be delivered from my judge. Jeremiah 7:21-25 21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Heap your burnt offerings upon your sacrifices; eat up the meat! 22 In speaking to your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I gave them no command concerning burnt offering or sacrifice. 23 This rather is what I commanded them: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk exactly in the way I command you, so that you may prosper. 24 But they did not listen to me, nor did they pay attention. They walked in the stubbornness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. 25 From the day that your ancestors left the land of Egypt even to this day, I kept on sending all my servants the prophets to you. 2

Isaiah 52:1-6 1 Awake, awake! Put on your strength, Zion; put on your glorious garments, Jerusalem, holy city. Never again shall the uncircumcised or the unclean enter you. 2 Arise, shake off the dust, sit enthroned, Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, captive daughter Zion! 3 For thus says the LORD: for nothing you were sold, without money you shall be redeemed. 4 For thus says the Lord GOD: to Egypt long ago my people went down, to sojourn there; Assyria, too, oppressed them for naught. 5 But now, what am I to do here? oracle of the LORD. My people have been taken away for nothing; their rulers mock, oracle of the LORD; constantly, every day, my name is reviled. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name on that day that it is I who speaks: Here I am! 1 Peter 2:4-10 4 Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, 5 and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it says in scripture: Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame. 7 Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8 and A stone that will make people stumble, and a rock that will make them fall. They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were no people but now you are God s people; you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy. 3

Hebrews 4:12-16 12 Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. 13 No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. 16 So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. Mark 8:1-10 1 In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he summoned the disciples and said, 2 My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance. 4 His disciples answered him, Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place? 5 Still he asked them, How many loaves do you have? Seven, they replied. 6 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. 8 They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over seven baskets. 9 There were about four thousand people. He dismissed them 10 and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha. 4

Commemoration of the Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios Matthew 25:14-30 14 It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately 16 the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. 17 Likewise, the one who received two made another two. 18 But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master s money. 19 After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more. 21 His master said to him, Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master s joy. 22 [Then] the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more. 23 His master said to him, Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master s joy. 24 Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; 25 so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back. 26 His master said to him in reply, You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? 28 Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 5

30 And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Exodus 3:9-12 9 Now indeed the outcry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 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 God answered: I will be with you; and this will be your sign that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God at this mountain. Deuteronomy 34:1-8 1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land Gilead, and as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3 the Negeb, the plain (the valley of Jericho, the City of Palms), and as far as Zoar. 4 The LORD then said to him, this is the land about which I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross over. 5 So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD, die as the LORD had said; 6 and he was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; to this day no one knows the place of his burial. 7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. 8 The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days, till they had completed the period of grief and mourning for Moses. Sirach 7:29-36 29 With all your soul fear God and revere his priests. 30 With all your strength love your Maker and do not neglect his ministers. 6

31 Honor God and respect the priest; give him his portion as you have been commanded: First fruits and contributions, his portion of victims and holy offerings. 32 To the poor also extend your hand, that your blessing may be complete. 33 Give your gift to all the living, and do not withhold your kindness from the dead. 34 Do not avoid those who weep, but mourn with those who mourn. 35 Do not hesitate to visit the sick, because for such things you will be loved. 36 In whatever you do, remember your last days, and you will never sin. Isaiah 65:13-16 13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: My servants shall eat, but you shall go hungry; My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; 14 My servants shall shout for joy of heart, but you shall cry out for grief of heart, and howl for anguish of spirit. 15 You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen ones when the Lord GOD slays you, and calls his servants by another name. 16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land shall bless by the God of truth; whoever takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; for the hardships of the past shall be forgotten and hidden from my eyes. Acts 20:25-35 25 But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again. 26 And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, 27 for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. 30 And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. 7

31 So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated. 33 I have never wanted anyone s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. 35 In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Hebrews 13:7-16 7 Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching. It is good to have our hearts strengthened by grace and not by foods, which do not benefit those who live by them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 The bodies of the animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as a sin offering are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to consecrate the people by his own blood 13 Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach that he bore. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come. 15 Through him [then] let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have; God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind. Matthew 24:45-51 45 Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. 8

47 Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, My master is long delayed, 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, 50 the servant s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour 51 and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. 9