Genesis 18:1-10a(10b-14)
Colossians 1:21-29
Luke 10:38-42
Psalm 15
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, "My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on-- since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said." And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes." Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" And he said,
"There, in the tent." Then one said, "I will surely return
to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son." [And Sarah
was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were
old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of
women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old,
and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?" The LORD said to Abraham,
"Why did Sarah laugh, and say, `Shall I indeed bear a child, now that
I am old?' Is anything too wonderful for the LORD? At the set time I will
return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son."]
You who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-- provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.
I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I
am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his
body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God's commission
that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery
that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been
revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among
the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and
teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature
in Christ. For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully
inspires within me.
As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus
entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into
her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened
to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she
came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left
me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the
Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted
by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better
part, which will not be taken away from her."
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 Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
Return to The Lectionary Page.
