Eighth Sunday after Epiphany

Collect
Most loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee who carest for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, ang grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which thou hast manifested to us in thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Jeremiah 7:1-7(8-15)
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message:

"`Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. (But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

"`Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"--safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

"`Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.')

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Psalm: 92

1. It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, *
   and to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;
2. To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning *
   and of your faithfulness in the night season;
3. On the psaltery, and on the lyre, *
   and to the melody of the harp.
4. For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD; *
   and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
5. LORD, how great are your works! *
   your thoughts are very deep.
6. The dullard does not know,
   nor does the fool understand, *
   that though the wicked grow like weeds,
   and all the workers of iniquity flourish,
7. They flourish only to be destroyed for ever; *
   but you, O LORD, are exalted for evermore.
8. For lo, your enemies, O LORD,
   lo, your enemies shall perish, *
   and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
9. But my horn you have exalted like the horns of wild bulls; *
   I am anointed with fresh oil.
10. My eyes also gloat over my enemies, *
    and my ears rejoice to hear the doom of the wicked who
    rise up against me.
11. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, *
    and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
12. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD *
    shall flourish in the courts of our God;
13. They shall still bear fruit in old age; *
    they shall be green and succulent;
14. That they may show how upright the LORD is, *
    my Rock, in whom there is no fault.

Gospel: Luke 6:39-49
He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

"Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

Collect & Psalm from the Book of Common Prayer
Other excerpts from the New International Bible