The Lessons Appointed for Use on the
Sunday closest to June 22
Year A BCP

Jeremiah 20:7-13
Romans 5:15b-19
Matthew 10:(16-23)24-33
Psalm 69:1-18 or 69:7-10, 16-18

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving­kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jeremiah 20:7-13

O LORD, you have enticed me,

and I was enticed;

you have overpowered me,

and you have prevailed.

I have become a laughingstock all day long;

everyone mocks me.

For whenever I speak, I must cry out,

I must shout, "Violence and destruction!"

For the word of the LORD has become for me

a reproach and derision all day long.

If I say, "I will not mention him,

or speak any more in his name,"

then within me there is something like a burning fire

shut up in my bones;

I am weary with holding it in,

and I cannot.

For I hear many whispering:

"Terror is all around!

Denounce him! Let us denounce him!"

All my close friends

are watching for me to stumble.

"Perhaps he can be enticed,

and we can prevail against him,

and take our revenge on him."

But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior;

therefore my persecutors will stumble,

and they will not prevail.

They will be greatly shamed,

for they will not succeed.

Their eternal dishonor

will never be forgotten.

O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous,

you see the heart and the mind;

let me see your retribution upon them,

for to you I have committed my cause.

Sing to the LORD;

praise the LORD!

For he has delivered the life of the needy

from the hands of evildoers.

Psalm 69:1-18 or 69:7-10, 16-18 Page 679, BCP

Salvum me fac

1

Save me, O God, *
for the waters have risen up to my neck.

2

I am sinking in deep mire, *
and there is no firm ground for my feet.

3

I have come into deep waters, *
and the torrent washes over me.

4

I have grown weary with my crying;
my throat is inflamed; *
my eyes have failed from looking for my God.

5

Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;
my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty. *
Must I then give back what I never stole?

6

O God, you know my foolishness, *
and my faults are not hidden from you.

7

Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord GOD of hosts; *
let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel.

8

Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach, *
and shame has covered my face.

9

I have become a stranger to my own kindred, *
an alien to my mother's children.

10

Zeal for your house has eaten me up; *
the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.

11

I humbled myself with fasting, *
but that was turned to my reproach.

12

I put on sack-cloth also, *
and became a byword among them.

13

Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, *
and the drunkards make songs about me.

14

But as for me, this is my prayer to you, *
at the time you have set, O LORD:

15

"In your great mercy, O God, *
answer me with your unfailing help.

16

Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; *
let me be rescued from those who hate me
and out of the deep waters.

17

Let not the torrent of waters wash over me,
neither let the deep swallow me up; *
do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.

18

Answer me, O LORD, for your love is kind; *
in your great compassion, turn to me.'

Romans 5:15b-19

For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

Matthew 10:(16-23)24-33

Jesus said to the twelve apostles,

["See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.]

"A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

"So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

"Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Collects, Psalms and Canticles are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.

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