The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Sunday closest to August 10

Year B
BCP

Deuteronomy 8:1-10
Ephesians 4:(25-29)30-5:2
John 6:37-51
Psalm 34 or 34:1-8

The Collect

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Old Testament

Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Moses said to the people: This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember the long way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the LORD your God disciplines you. Therefore keep the commandments of the LORD your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. You shall eat your fill and bless the LORD your God for the good land that he has given you.

The Psalm

Psalm 34 or 34:1-8 Page 627, BCP

Benedicam Dominum

1
I will bless the LORD at all times; *
his praise shall ever be in my mouth.

2
I will glory in the LORD; *
let the humble hear and rejoice.

3
Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD; *
let us exalt his Name together.

4
I sought the LORD, and he answered me *
and delivered me out of all my terror.

5
Look upon him and be radiant, *
and let not your faces be ashamed.

6
I called in my affliction and the LORD heard me *
and saved me from all my troubles.

7
The angel of the LORD encompasses those who fear him, *
and he will deliver them.

8
Taste and see that the LORD is good; *
happy are they who trust in him!

9
Fear the LORD, you that are his saints, *
for those who fear him lack nothing.

10
The young lions lack and suffer hunger, *
but those who seek the LORD lack nothing that is good.

11
Come, children, and listen to me; *
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12
Who among you loves life *
and desires long life to enjoy prosperity?

13
Keep your tongue from evil-speaking *
and your lips from lying words.

14
Turn from evil and do good; *
seek peace and pursue it.

15
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, *
and his ears are open to their cry.

16
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, *
to root out the remembrance of them from the earth.

17
The righteous cry, and the LORD hears them *
and delivers them from all their troubles.

18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted *
and will save those whose spirits are crushed.

19
Many are the troubles of the righteous, *
but the LORD will deliver him out of them all.

20
He will keep safe all his bones; *
not one of them shall be broken.

21
Evil shall slay the wicked, *
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.

22
The LORD ransoms the life of his servants, *
and none will be punished who trust in him.


Ephesians 4:(25-29)30-5:2

[Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

John 6:37-51

Jesus said to the people, "Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day."

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, `I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."



Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets.

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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